MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - Family and friends of murdered basketball player Lorenzen Wright will hold a candlelight vigil this weekend. Wright was shot to death and left in a field in southeast Memphis two years ago, and his killer has never been caught. So why has this case been so hard to crack?
Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong says truth is the killers were ahead of police from the beginning.
"Obviously the longer it goes the likelihood of it being solved decreases," Armstrong said. "We got this case with a lot of obstacles."
It was more than a week from the time Wright was murdered until his body was found. Wright called 911 moments before he died. Armstrong heard the recording.
"It's eerie," he said. "I knew Lorenzen personally so it's eerie."
Those days between Wright's 911 call and the discovery of his body are the lost days his mother, Deborah Marion, says would have been vital to finding her son's killer.
"He might have been dead anyway but they might have gotten some evidence or foot prints or something," she said.
For two years Lorenzen Wright's mother has waited for her son's killer to be caught.
"I'm not giving up, somebody has to pay for this," Marion said. "They are spineless and weak, that's what they are."
This year Memphis police assigned a new investigator to the case, but so far no luck.
Armstrong said, "It's disheartening to us the information has not been free flowing, we haven't gotten a lot of crime stoppers tips or calls on it."
Wright's mother hopes to bring in outside experts to help Memphis police catch the killer. If that never happens, "They gonna get theirs," Marion said, "Good Lord take care of them, you can believe me they gonna be taken care of."
The vigil is Saturday, July 14 at 7:30 p.m. outside the FedExForum. Truth is Wright's mother wants a big crowd hoping to send a message that her son won't be forgotten.
