‘Keanan Turner Has Forfeited the Right to Live in Society,’ Prosecutor Says at Sentencing

By Laura Berol - October 22, 2024
Court | Daily Stories | Homicides | Juveniles | Non-Fatal Shooting | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan sentenced Keanan Turner to 69-and-a-half years in prison after the prosecution and members of the victims’ family asked for a life sentence without the possibility of release on Oct. 18.

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

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

“The motive that the jury credited in the trial was that he had an affair with Ebony Wright, that she became pregnant, and that she was seeking child support and, to protect herself, child 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 papers regarding child support and custody.

“He sat with the family for over an hour to put them at ease,” the prosecutor said about 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 wouldn’t have made it out of the burning apartment after suffering a gunshot wound to the face if she hadn’t heard Ebony’s infant cry and felt the need to save him.

“These past few years have been a wakening and have taught me so much,” she said about her experience 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 about her family. “We have God, we have happiness, we have love, and those don’t go away just through death.”

“They didn’t deserve to die like that,” Wanda’s sister said about the victims. “When we have get-togethers, we’re putting down two chairs with flowers there for where those two should be sitting.”

“It’s hard to even imagine what was going on in that house that night,” said a nephew of Wanda and cousin of Ebony. “It just hurt that I couldn’t help at all to prevent anything that could be happening.”

“Like [Wanda’s surviving daughter] said, I can’t hate Keanan because we still have love in our family,” a niece of Wanda said. “The love will still go on. It can’t stop and it won’t stop.”

The prosecutor argued Turner should receive life in prison because he committed terrible crimes despite his supportive family, college education, stable employment, and apparent good physical and mental health.

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

The defense disagreed.

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

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

“I’ll make it back and show I’m not what the media and the [prosecution] have portrayed me to be,” Turner told the court. “All I do is take care of my family, take care of people I don’t know. I’d give you the clothes off my back. I wouldn’t have to know you to do anything for you.”

No further hearings are scheduled in this case.