RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — The ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright is fighting authorities’ attempt to extradite her from California to Tennessee, where she is charged with killing him in 2010.
FILE – In this Sept. 29, 2008, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers’ Lorenzen Wright poses at the team’s NBA basketball media day in Independence, Ohio. Sherra Wright is fighting an attempt by authorities to extradite her from California to Memphis, Tenn., to face conspiracy and first-degree murder charges in the 2010 death of her ex-husband, former NBA player Lorenzen Wright. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, file)
Sherra Wright made a very brief appearance Wednesday in Riverside County Superior Court. A judge explained that the only issue in her extradition is whether or not she is the person named in the arrest warrant out of Memphis. Wright said she understood and was told to return for a hearing Jan. 8.
“She’s exercising her right to go through the process,” her attorney Eric Keen said told the Desert Sun newspaper in Palm Springs after the hearing. “From my point of view, it’s normal.”
Sherra Wright, who is fighting an attempt by authorities to extradite her from California to Memphis, Tenn. (Riverside Sheriff’s Department via AP)
Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman, who is prosecuting Wright in Shelby County, Tennessee, said, “We will pursue getting her back here to face these charges.”
Wright, 46, was arrested last week and charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lorenzen Wright.
He played for 13 seasons as a forward and center in the NBA, including several for the Grizzlies in Memphis, where he was born and raised.
His decomposing body was found in suburban Memphis 10 days after he was reported missing. He had been shot multiple times.
A statement from the Shelby County district attorney’s office said Sherra Wright and a landscaper named Billy R. Turner conspired to kill Lorenzen Wright.
Turner was arrested earlier this month after a gun used in the killing was discovered in a lake in Mississippi. He also has been charged with first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Sherra Wright received $1 million from her ex-husband’s life insurance policy. She agreed to a settlement in 2014 in a court dispute over how she spent the money meant to benefit their six children, The Commercial Appeal newspaper in Memphis has reported.
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