Maryland man convicted of killing mother while meeting her children

A Maryland man has received his three-year sentence after ambushing his newborn baby, the baby’s mother and her family with a a murder plot. In April 2021, Keanan Turner arranged to meet her child for the first time in Washington, DC. The visit ended with Turner shooting two people and nearly killing his own child and the infant’s aunt.

On July 26, 2024, the DC Superior Court found Keanan Turner, 34, guilty of murder. Ebony Wright and her mother, Wanda WrightAs mentioned, prosecutors revealed that Turner also tried to kill the baby with fire and shot the baby’s aunt to death, Wright’s Fateahead, according to a statement from DCUS Law Office.

All of his guilty pleas include two counts of first-degree murder while armed with a felony, assault with intent to murder while armed, aggravated assault while armed, first-degree attempted murder of a minor, second-degree cruelty to children, arson and destruction of property.

Here’s What a Maryland Man Did to His Newborn Baby’s Family

Evidence at trial showed that Ebony Wright was in a romantic relationship with Keanan Turner while she was pregnant.

Turner told her he didn’t want a child and asked her to terminate the pregnancy. Ebony refused, so Keanan ignored her. After the birth, Ebony filed a custody and child support lawsuit in DC against Turner, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The court served the Maryland man, who is from Clinton, with the lawsuit. In response, Keanan contacted Ebony under the impression that he wanted to see his child. The father went to Ebony’s apartment in Southeast Washington, D.C., on April 12, 2021. He spent nearly an hour at the home with the baby, Ebony, Wanda, and Ebony’s sister.

As the meeting neared the one-hour mark, the Maryland man pulled out a gun and shot Ebony in the head in the living room. He then shot her mother in the back of the head. Turner then found Destiny in the back bedroom and shot her in the face.

Before leaving the apartment, he burned the child custody papers in an attempt to kill the baby, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. However, the family’s aunt—who was injured but still alive—heard the baby’s cries. Destiny was able to save the baby, run out of the burning apartment, and call 911.

What will Keanan Turner do next?

After running out of the apartment, the Maryland man tried to remove the Ring camera on Ebony’s front door. Instead, he revealed a “unique tattoo” on his arm, which eventually led police to identify him as the suspect.

According to one GoFundMe Campaign from 2021Ebony’s surviving sister, Destiny, will “ultimately raise” the child, identified as Grayson. The account organizer, who is believed to be Destiny’s godmother, revealed that she was a student at North Carolina A&T with a 3.5 GPA. At the time, the fundraiser was seeking to raise $150,000 and eventually raised more than $37,000 from 682 donations.

As for Keanan Turner, he is scheduled to return to court on October 14 for sentencing. He faces up to life in prison for his crimes.

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