The man accused of conspiring with the ex-wife of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright to murder him 11 years ago in Memphis has a new trial date.
According to the Associated Press, Billy Ray Turner was told Wednesday by Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee that his first-degree murder and conspiracy trial has been scheduled to begin on Jan. 31.
His original court date was scheduled for October 2020, but due to the Tennessee Supreme Court suspending trials last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, his trial was postponed.
Turner, 50, has pled not guilty in what is considered one of the highest-profile murder cases in the city's history.
The body of Wright, who played 13 seasons with the Memphis Grizzles, was found on July 28, 2010, riddled with bullet wounds.
The former NBA player, who was retired when he died, had been missing for 10 days before his decomposing body was found in a swampy field in east Memphis.
Sherra Wright, Lorenzen's ex-wife, pled guilty in July 2019 to the facilitation of murder. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and could be called as a witness in Turner's trial.
According to prosecutors, Turner was found with two guns when he was arrested. He pled guilty to possessing a weapon as a convicted felon and was sentenced to 16 years, the AP reported.
If convicted, Turner faces life in prison.
