A Maryland man has been sentenced to 68 years in prison for the murder of his child’s mother and grandmother, shooting another person and setting a D.C. apartment on fire with his baby inside.
A Maryland man has been sentenced to 68 years in prison for the murder of his child’s mother and grandmother, shooting another person and setting a D.C. apartment on fire with his baby inside.
Keanan Christopher Turner, 35, of Clinton, was sentenced Friday in the shooting death of the mother of his 3-month-old son, 32-year-old Ebony Wright, and her mother, Wanda Wright, 48. Another female relative was also shot and survived.
It happened three years ago on April 12, 2021, at a home on the 2300 block of Good Hope Court in Southeast.
Turner had been in a relationship with Ebony Wright when she became pregnant. He asked her to terminate the pregnancy, which she refused; after which, Turner stopped speaking to her.
After giving birth, she filed a custody and child support lawsuit against Turner. On April 12, 2021, Turner reached out to meet his child at her apartment, where Wanda Wright, a female relative and the baby were also present.
Turner went to the bathroom after meeting the family and came back with a gun, a Justice Department news release said. He then shot Ebony Wright in the head while she was holding the child, and then shot her mother. Turner then went into a bedroom and shot the relative.
“Before leaving the apartment, Turner lit the custody papers and set the apartment on fire, in an attempt to kill his own child. He then fled the scene,” the news release said.
Ebony and Wanda Wright died from their injuries, but the baby’s aunt was able to save him and call 911, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
Turner was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder while armed, attempted first-degree murder of a minor, arson and destruction of property, among other charges.
At the sentencing hearing last week, prosecutors argued Turner should be sentenced to life in prison, given he showed a “complete lack of remorse” and “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.”
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
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