“Keanan Turner has forfeited the right to live in society,” said the prosecutor when announcing the verdict

By Laura Berol
– October 22, 2024
court | Daily Stories | murders | young people | Non-lethal shooting | Shoot | Suspicious | Victim |

D.C. Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan sentenced Keanan Turner to 69.5 years in prison after prosecutors and victims’ families requested a life sentence without the possibility of release on Oct. 18.

Turner, 35, was found guilty July 26 on two counts: first-degree murder with armed violence with aggravating circumstances, assault with intent to kill with a weapon, aggravated assault with intent to kill with a weapon, attempted first-degree murder of a minor, and second-degree murder on a minor. Four counts of cruelty to children, possession of a firearm during a violent crime, carrying a pistol without a license outside a home or business, arson and destruction of property valued at less than $1,000.

The charges stemmed from the April 12, 2021 shooting of Wanda Wright, 48, and her daughter Ebony Wright, 31, in the 2300 block of Good Hope Court, SE. Another daughter of Wanda and sister of Ebony was also a victim but survived along with Ebony’s three-month-old child.

“The motive given to the jury at trial was that he had an affair with Ebony Wright, that she became pregnant and that she sought child support and, to protect herself, custody,” Judge Raffinan said.

According to court documents, Wanda’s surviving daughter testified that Turner visited his and Ebony’s child for the first time after he was served with court documents regarding child support and custody.

“He sat with the family for over an hour to calm them down,” the prosecutor said of that visit during the sentencing hearing. “He killed Wanda, he killed Ebony, he shot [Wanda’s surviving daughter]and then he set a fire to kill his own child, a child who couldn’t even walk, who couldn’t even crawl, who was completely defenseless.”

Wanda’s surviving daughter gave a victim impact statement, saying she would not have made it out of the burning apartment after suffering a gunshot wound to the face if she had not heard Ebony’s infant crying and felt the need to close him save.

“The last few years have been an awakening and have taught me so much,” she said of her experiences since Turner’s attack.

“I can’t live my life hating Keanan,” she said. “That gives him too much power over me.”

“We have each other,” she said of her family. “We have God, we have luck, we have love, and these things don’t just disappear with death.”

“They didn’t deserve to die like that,” Wanda’s sister said of the victims. “When we get together, we put two chairs with flowers where they should sit.”

“It’s hard to imagine what went on in that house that night,” said a nephew of Wanda and cousin of Ebony. “It just hurt that I couldn’t do anything about what could happen.”

“How [Wanda’s surviving daughter] said: “I can’t hate Keanan because we still have love in our family,” said one of Wanda’s nieces. “Love will continue. It can’t stop and it won’t stop.”

The prosecutor argued that Turner should receive a life sentence because he committed horrific crimes despite his supportive family, his college education, his steady employment and his apparent good physical and mental health.

“This is not a situation in which the defendant, if he goes to prison, can be rehabilitated because he has already lived the life expected by society,” the prosecutor said. “Keanan Turner has forfeited the right to live in society.”

However, the defense did not agree.

“These horrific events do not necessarily equate to a person being a monster,” argued Turner’s defense attorney Franz Jobson.

Jobson read from a letter from one of Turner’s young children, which said, “I want you to know how wonderful my father is,” and from a letter from Turner’s mother-in-law, which said, “Keanan has always been an example of family values ​​and spiritual relationship.”

“I’m going to make it back and show that I’m not what the media and the [prosecution] “That’s how I portrayed myself,” Turner said in court. “I only care about my family and people I don’t know. I would give you the clothes off my back. I wouldn’t have to know you to do something for you.”

No further hearings are scheduled in this case.