With his 72-year-old stepmother looking to sell his childhood home in DeKalb County, William Daniel Wright was given an ultimatum: buy it or move out.
None of those would happen.
Instead, prosecutors said they believe that comment turned their relationship sour, leading Wright to shoot and kill Debra Wright in the driveway of their Clarkston residence in February 2023 — roughly one week before the house was set to be closed on.
On Thursday, William Wright was convicted on charges of murder, aggravated assault and weapons possession in connection with the killing, according to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office. Shortly after, DeKalb Superior Court Judge Shondeana Morris sentenced him to life in prison, plus five years.
Clarkston police had responded Feb. 17, 2023, to the shooting on Rogers Street, where officers found Wright dead in the driver’s seat of her vehicle. She had been shot in the right side of her head, authorities said, and a projectile was found a few feet from the car in the driveway. The driver’s-side window was shattered.
“It appeared that the bullet exited the victim and broke the window,” prosecutors said.
According to the DA’s office, a neighbor found Wright slumped over in the vehicle and called 911, while another neighbor told police he heard two popping sounds around 4:30 p.m. and went to investigate. The second neighbor said he saw William Wright standing near the vehicle and gave detectives photos showing an open passenger door and blurry footage of a “tall man wearing a dark top or jacket standing near the vehicle,” prosecutors said.
Wright’s driver’s license and social security card were found during a search of the home, the DA’s office said, along with a bag of bullets that appeared to match the one found near his stepmother’s vehicle.
The following day, police spoke with the victim’s sibling who said Debra Wright had moved into the home two decades earlier when she married. The husband later died and left the home to her.
“Debra’s relationship with her stepson had become contentious when she asked him to purchase the home or move out so that she could sell,” prosecutors said. “A neighbor confirmed that the sale of the home was set to close the next week.”
After searching the area, authorities found William Wright walking nearby and ordered him to the ground. But he refused those commands, the DA’s office said, and moved his hands toward his waistband, where officers saw a handgun. Wright was then placed in handcuffs without incident.
According to prosecutors, the gun matched the bullet used in the shooting and his stepmother’s blood was found on his jacket. He later admitted to being with her on the day of the shooting and said they had traveled to a credit union to transfer money for the sale before returning to the home, the DA’s office said.
“He entered the home, and when he went back outside, Debra was still in the driveway on the phone,” prosecutors added. “He claimed that he left the house in a rideshare vehicle and was at a bar until early the next morning.”
Wright was sentenced with the possibility of parole, spokesperson Lisa Myers told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
