Suspect in NBA player’s death gets 16 years on gun charge

FILE – In this Sept. 29, 2008, file photo, Cleveland Cavaliers’ Lorenzen Wright poses at the team’s NBA basketball media day in Independence, Ohio. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan, File)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee man charged with killing former NBA player Lorenzen Wright has been sentenced to 16 years in prison on a separate gun charge.

Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Billy Turner during a hearing Thursday in Memphis.

Turner pleaded guilty in June to possessing a weapon as a convicted felon. Prosecutors say Turner had two guns when he was charged in December 2017 with Wright’s killing.

The retired NBA player’s body was found riddled with bullet wounds in a swampy field in Memphis in July 2010.

Turner and Wright’s ex-wife were charged with first-degree murder. Sherra Wright pleaded guilty to facilitation of murder and was given a 30-year prison sentence last month.

Turner’s trial in the killing is set for Sept. 16. Turner has pleaded not guilty.

Wright played for five teams over 13 seasons in the NBA.