Sherra Wright, accused of fatally shooting her ex-husband, NBA player Lorenzen Wright, and dumping his body in a field in southeast Memphis in 2010, will stand trial for his murder in September.

During a report date Thursday, Wright, 47, and her co-defendant, Billy Ray Turner, were given a trial date of Sept. 16 in the slaying of her former husband and father of her six children. 

She and Turner will be tried together in the murder case. 

In October, Sherra Wright was deemed mentally fit to stand trial.

Yolanda Jones: Sherra Wright deemed mentally fit to stand trial in death of Lorenzen Wright

Wright and Turner were charged late last year in connection with Lorenzen Wright’s murder after authorities recovered a gun believed to be used in the homicide in a lake in Walnut, Mississippi, seven years after the NBA star’s body was found in July 2010.

Both Sherra Wright and Turner have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Wright’s bond was set at $20 million and Turner’s bond was set at $15 million. Both remain in jail as they await trial. 

Both the prosecution and the defense agreed to the Sept. 16 trial date on the murder charges.

But when the state proposed having a trial on Turner’s separate gun charges before the murder trial, his attorney, John Keith Perry, objected.

“The priority of that case and the possibility of tainting a jury pool – that’s a concern,” Perry said about not wanting the trial on his client’s gun charges to be held before the murder trial.

Turner was indicted in April on three counts of a convicted felon in possession of a weapon. Police found the guns at his home after his arrest in connection with Lorenzen Wright’s murder.

“There are accusations that they were supposed to have been weapons found after they were searching the house," Perry said. "None of the weapons had anything to do with any criminal activity other than my client’s status as a prior convicted felon.”

Perry argued since the weapons are not alleged to have been involved, “in probably one of the most followed criminal cases in the history of Memphis, I think it is important to say these are separate issues that have nothing to do with each other and allow my client to have a fair jury pool.”

Perry said he plans to file a motion objecting to the state wanting to have Turner’s trial on the gun charges before the murder trial. Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee set Jan. 24 as the deadline for attorneys to file motions and also will decide the trial date for the gun charges against Turner.

Lorenzen Wright’s family reacts to trial date

Lorenzen Wright’s mother, Deborah Marion, and his grandmother, Louise Vassar, thanked God that after eight years the case is finally going to trial.

“I’m ready. I can breathe again. It makes me feel so good to go to trial," Marion said. "We’ve been waiting for eight years. We need to get this over. I was thinking December for the trial, so they actually did me a favor. September is great. It is fine for me.”

Lorenzen Wright’s grandmother added, “I can hardly wait for September, but God is on our side. I raised that boy. He wasn’t my grandson, he was my son. That was my heart.”

Marion said she was glad to see Lorenzen and Sherra Wright's oldest daughter, Loren Wright, in court Thursday.

“I haven’t seen Loren in almost eight years. I’ve talked to her,” Marion said. “I’m glad she is here. She can talk to her mama and see what her mama wants to tell her, but the real truth is coming out in September.”

“I’m ready. I can breathe again. It makes me feel so good to go to trial. We’ve been waiting for eight years. We need to get this over. I was thinking December for the trial, so they actually did me a favor. September is great. It is fine for me.”
Deborah Marion, Lorenzen Wright's mother

During the court proceeding, Sherra Wright turned and waved at her daughter in the courtroom.

Loren Wright did not speak to the media, her grandmother or other family members. After the hearing, she got on the elevator and turned her back to the television cameras.

Marion tried to talk to Loren Wright when she got off the elevator and called her name several times, but her granddaughter kept walking.

“That’s alright,” Marion outside of 201 Poplar. “She is a mama’s girl. I love her and all my grandchildren.”

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reported Loren Wright delivered a letter her mother wrote to the newspaper. In the letter, Sherra Wright said her arrest for her ex-husband’s murder was like “a terrible dream.”

She also indicated in the letter that her relationship with Lorenzen Wright was “a love story, not this horror film that has been erected by the media.”

Trial date set 'in stone'

Both the prosecution and defense said they have a lot of work to do in the 10 months before the murder trial.

“There are some cases that the discovery is voluminous. This case is more than that. There are flash drives with gigabytes after gigabytes," said Shelby County prosecutor Paul Hagerman. "Preparing is difficult for both sides. We talked to the attorneys earlier in the week and we felt it was time to go ahead and get a date in stone to get this matter disposed of, so Sept. 16, we will be ready."

Turner’s attorney Perry agreed that there was a lot of work and investigating left to do.

“A lot of preparations and pretrial motions; on a case like this there might be some 50 motions filed,” said Perry, who is still going through thousands of pages of discovery and audio recordings and wiretaps. 

Perry said the work will continue up to the eve of the trial, noting, “We’ve listened to all kind of conversations, 99 percent which I don’t think had to do with anything.”

He said his client, Turner, is innocent of the murder charges.

"It is an important case and I have a client that I believe is innocent and I will see him at the end of the day proven not guilty by a court of law," Perry said. "In order to do that, I have to do my due diligence. Go through all the documents, every line, every period, every paragraph until I feel comfortable. But I will only feel comfortable at the end of the case.”