Man meets his baby for first time and fatally shoots the mom, grandmother, feds say
A Maryland man first met his son when the boy was only a few months old in 2021.
After spending nearly an hour with his baby, Keanan Turner fatally shot the child’s mother, Ebony Wright, and her mother, Wanda Wright, inside Ebony Wright’s Washington, D.C. apartment on April 12, 2021, federal prosecutors said.
Both women were shot in the head, according to prosecutors.
Turner then found Ebony Wright’s sister in a bedroom and shot her in the face — but she survived, according to prosecutors.
“I just dropped to the floor. I was begging for him to stop,” Destiny Wright, who is now 22, said in court last week, The Washington Post reported.
Before Turner left the apartment, he tried killing his baby by setting child custody paperwork inside Ebony Wright’s apartment ablaze, prosecutors said.
Though injured, Destiny Wright heard her nephew’s cries and saved him, according to prosecutors, who said she carried him outside and dialed 911.
Now a jury has found Turner, 34, of Clinton, guilty of several charges, including murder charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced in a July 26 news release.
He was convicted 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; destruction of property; four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence; and carrying a pistol without a license, prosecutors said.
Turner’s defense attorneys didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on July 29.
In court, his attorneys argued someone else killed Ebony and Wanda Wright and set fire to the apartment, The Washington Post reported.
However, after lighting the child custody paperwork on fire, prosecutors said, “a unique tattoo on his arm” was seen when he tried to take down a Ring camera on Ebony Wright’s front door.
The Ring camera footage captured Turner arriving at Ebony Wright’s apartment that evening — while dressed in all black — wearing a hoodie with the hood over his head, a black mask, and black head gear, according to the affidavit.
It appeared as if he was trying to hide himself, authorities wrote.
‘He tried to burn his secret life to the ground’
At trial, prosecutors discussed how Turner previously dated Ebony Wright.
After she became pregnant, he wanted her to have an abortion, prosecutors said.
Investigators learned Turner was married and his wife was unaware he had an affair — as well as a child — with Ebony Wright, who Turner knew from high school, according to the affidavit.
Turner stopped communicating with Ebony Wright when she refused to terminate her pregnancy, prosecutors said.
She eventually filed a custody and child support lawsuit against him, according to prosecutors.
On Jan. 31, 2021, Ebony Wright texted Turner, saying: “its been almost a month since your son has been born. Are you still gonna try to pretend that he doesn’t exist,” the affidavit shows.
Turner never responded, according to the affidavit.
Prosecutors argued that Turner was angry with Ebony Wright for filing a child support lawsuit because he worried the legal action would threaten the life he had with his wife, their daughter, and his job, The Washington Post reported.
“He intended to prevent her going forward with the custody suit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Emma McArthur said in court on July 25, according to the newspaper. “He tried to burn his secret life to the ground.”
Turner is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 14, prosecutors said. He is facing up to life in prison.
This story was originally published July 29, 2024 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Man meets his baby for first time and fatally shoots the mom, grandmother, feds say."
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