Federal officials say that 35-year-old Clinton resident Keenan Turner was given a 68-year prison sentence for the murders of Wanda and Ebony Wright in April 2021, the shooting of a third person, and the attempted murder of an infant when he set the fire.
Prosecutors say Turner’s only goal in committing the crimes was “to avoid paying child support.”
Because Turner didn’t feel bad about what he did and because the killings were planned ahead of time, they wanted him to spend the rest of his life in jail without the chance of getting out.
It was a double murder, and the judge said, “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 in order to avoid paying child support.”
Attorneys for the state say that Ebony Wright was dating Turner when she got pregnant. Turner asked her to end the relationship, but Wright refused, and the two stopped talking.
Turner was sued for child support and custody by Ebony Wright in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia after giving birth. This is what led to their fateful meeting.
Federal officials say that after Turner was served with the case, he contacted the woman to meet his child for the first time. On April 12, 2021, he went to her apartment and was met by Ebony Wright, her mother Wanda Wright, her sister, and the child.
Turner left the family meeting for about an hour, went to the bathroom, and came back with a gun that he used to shoot Ebony Wright in the head, according to the police.
Then he shot Wanda Wright in the back of the head. He then went to a bedroom in the back and shot her sister in the face.
The Department of Justice says Turner tried to kill the child by setting the custody papers on fire before leaving the flat.
Turner tried to take off a Ring camera on the front door as he was running out of the apartment, which showed off his unique arm tattoo and got him caught.
Officials said that the woman who was shot in the back bedroom heard the child crying in the living room and saved the child, carrying him out of the apartment before calling 911.
Turner was found guilty 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.