Keanan Turner, 34, Guilty of Killing a Mother and Daughter Inside SE Apartment

Defendant Also Shot a Third Victim in the Face and Set the Apartment on Fire

            WASHINGTON – Today, a D.C. Superior Court jury returned a guilty verdict against Keanan Turner, 34, of Clinton, Maryland, for the murders of Wanda Wright and Ebony Wright on April 12, 2021, in the 2300 block of Good Hope Court SE, Washington D.C. The verdict was announced by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Chief Pamela Smith, of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Turner was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder 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, and destruction of property. In addition to these charges, Turner was found guilty of four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence and carrying a pistol without a license. 

            A sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 14, 2024, in front of Superior Court Judge Maribeth Raffinan. Because of the aggravated circumstances, Turner faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

            According to the evidence presented at trial, Ebony Wright had been in a prior relationship with the defendant when she became pregnant. The defendant asked her to terminate the pregnancy and when she declined, he stopped speaking to her. After giving birth, Ebony Wright filed a custody and child support lawsuit against the defendant in the Superior Court for the District of Columbia.

            After the lawsuit was served against the defendant, he reached out to Ebony Wright to meet his child for the first time. On April 12, 2021, the defendant went over to Ebony Wright’s apartment. Present at the meeting were Ebony Wright, her mother Wanda Wright, her sister, the child, and the defendant.

            After meeting with the family for nearly an hour, the defendant took out a gun and shot Ebony Wright in the head. He then shot Wanda Wright in the back of the head. He then went into the back bedroom, where the sister was located, and shot her once in the face. Prior to leaving the apartment, the defendant lit the custody paperwork on fire in an attempt to kill the child. As he was running out of the apartment, the defendant attempted to remove a Ring camera on the front door and, in doing so, exposed a unique tattoo on his arm.

            As the sister lay wounded in the back bedroom, she heard the child crying in the living room. Despite suffering a gunshot wound to the face, she rescued the child and carried him out of the apartment and called 911.

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Graves and Chief Smith commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Korba who investigated and indicted the case and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Miles Janssen and Emma McArthur who prosecuted the case.