MEMPHIS, TN - Six months later, there is still no justice for the family of Lorenzen Wright. He was gunned down in the early morning hours on July 19th. Despite a 9-1-1 call with gunshots in the background, it took nearly 10 days before his body was discovered. Wright's mother has harsh words for investigators.
Teddy bears in the makeshift memorial have faded in the sun. It's been six months since Lorenzen Wright was shot and killed in the East Memphis field. Now, after all this time, his mother is more desperate than ever for answers.
“You don't even imagine how u miss your firstborn child,” Deborah Marion said in November on what would’ve been her son’s 35th birthday. “He was my sun, my rain, my everything.”
In the months that have passed, Marion has gone from mournful to just plain mad.
“Ain’t nothing shaking,” Marion said Wednesday. “Ain’t nothing happening 6 months later.”
She used to call police every day, but she says that doesn't do any good. Now she calls once a week. Marion believes too many mistakes have been made. Mistakes that started with a 9-1-1 call that she believes was mishandled.
“They can't explain to me why my son was laying out there ten days. They can't explain to me. Ain’t nothing they can say, nothing, 10 days,” said Marion.
Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin says confusion over the 9-1-1 call or the fact the body wasn't found for ten days aren't the reasons no one has been arrested.
“I can Monday morning quarterback, I don't think it's fair to Monday morning quarterback, may or may not,” said Dir. Godwin. “You don't know what you lost. Would we be right where we are?”
He wishes he had more to tell Mrs. Marion and the City of Memphis.
“I wish I could say more than it's still under investigation,” said Dir. Godwin. “I wish I could say more than it has not been transferred to a cold case file. That's pretty much where we are. I'm disappointed, as are the homicide investigators that we have not had more leads, more tips, that put my guys, men and women down in homicide in the right direction.”
He says they won't stop investigating, but Wright's mom says it's not enough.
“I'm gonna get justice for mine, because I'm not shutting up. They're going to have to kill me too,” said Marion.
Marion says she'll keep calling police every week, until she has answers.
There is reward for information that leads to an arrest in Lorenzen Wright's murder. CrimeStoppers is offering $1,000. The Memphis City Council has added $5,000 for information leads to a conviction. Wright's mother is also raising reward money. Wright was 34-years-old.
