October 22, 2024 – WASHINGTON – Keanan Turner, 35, of Clinton, Maryland, was sentenced for the 2021 murders of Wanda Wright and Ebony Wright, the shooting of a third victim, the attempted murder of an infant, and setting fire to their apartment, announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela A. Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

On July 26, 2024, a D.C. Superior Court jury found Turner guilty of two counts of first-degree murder while armed with aggravating circumstances, assault with intent to kill while armed, aggravated assault while armed, attempted first degree murder of a minor, second degree cruelty to children, arson, and destruction of property. In addition to these charges, Turner was found guilty of four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and carrying a pistol without a license. 

At sentencing on October 18, 2024, the government argued that the defendant should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, as such a sentence was appropriate under the D.C. Code and D.C. Superior Court Voluntary Sentencing Guidelines, given: (1) the defendant’s complete lack of remorse, (2) the substantial planning by the defendant leading up to the offense, (3) the fact that there were two murders committed at the same time, and (4) the heinous nature of the offense, namely the killing of two innocent women, the attempted murder of a third, and most horrific, leaving his own infant child to burn to death, solely to avoid paying child support. Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan sentenced Turner to sixty-eight years’ incarceration.

According to the evidence presented at trial, Ebony Wright, who had been in a prior relationship with the defendant, became pregnant. When the defendant asked her to terminate the pregnancy, she declined and he stopped speaking to her. After giving birth, Ebony Wright filed a custody and child support lawsuit against the defendant. On April 12, 2021, Turner reached out to Ebony Wright to meet his child at her apartment. Several people were in the apartment including Ebony Wright, her mother Wanda Wright, a female relative, and the child. After meeting with the family, Turner excused himself, went to the bathroom, and returned with a gun. He shot Ebony Wright in the head while she held their son. He then shot her mother, Wanda Wright, in the back of the head, then went into a back bedroom and shot the relative once in the face. Before leaving the apartment, Turner lit the custody papers and set the apartment on fire, in an attempt to kill his own child. He then fled the scene. Ebony and Wanda Wright died from their injuries. The relative survived and managed to rescue the child from the apartment fire and call 911.           

In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of Paralegal Specialists Kelly Blakeney, Mabry Johnson, and former Homicide Paralegal Stephanie Gilbert; Investigative Analyst Zachary McMenamin; Victim Witness Services Coordinators Maenylie Watson and Shanika J. McCullough; Victim/Witness Program Specialist Latrice Washington-Williams and former Victim/Witness Program Specialist Marci Rinker; Supervisory Specialist Lesley Slade; Appellate Supervisor Nicholas Coleman; Supervisory IT Specialist Leif Hickling, IT Specialists Charlie Bruce, and Sigourney Jackson; Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Korba who investigated and indicted the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Miles Janssen and Emma McArthur who prosecuted the case.

Source: DOJ Release