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Clinton resident Keenan Turner, 35, was sentenced to 68 years in prison in connection to the April 2021 murders of Wanda and Ebony Wright, the shooting of a third victim, and the attempted murder of an infant when he set the fire, federal authorities announced.
Prosecutors say that Turner's intention in committing the offenses was "solely to avoid paying child support."
They had been pushing for life in prison without the possibility of a release due to Turner's lack of remorse, and the planning put in before the murders.
At sentencing, they also stressed that it was a double murder and cited "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."
Prosecutors say that Ebony Wright was in a relationship with Turner when she became pregnant, which Turner asked her to terminate, a request she declined and the two stopped speaking.
After giving birth, Ebony Wright filed a custody and child support lawsuit against Turner in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia, leading to a fateful meeting.
According to federal officials, After the lawsuit was served against Turner, he reached out to the woman to meet his child for the first time, and on April 12, 2021, he went to her apartment, where he was met by Ebony Wright, her mother Wanda Wright, her sister, and the child.
After meeting with the family for approximately an hour, officials say that Turner excused himself, went to the bathroom, and returned with gun that he used to shoot Ebony Wright in the head.
He then shot Wanda Wright in the back of the head, and went to a back bedroom, where he shot her sister in the face.
Before leaving the apartment, Turner lit the custody paperwork on fire in an attempt to kill the child, according to the Department of Justice.
As he was running out of the apartment, Turner attempted to remove a Ring camera on the front door, exposing his unique tattoo on his arm that led to his downfall.
Officials noted that the woman wounded in the back bedroom heard the child crying in the living room, and despite the headshot, rescued the kid and carried him out of the apartment before calling 911.
Turner was convicted in July of:
- Two counts of first-degree murdered while armed with aggravated 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;
- Destruction of property;
- Four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence;
- Carrying a pistol without a license.
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