Dakarai Turner joined WISH-TV in November 2023 and anchors News 8 at Midday and 5 p.m.

Dakarai is a storyteller at heart. Growing up in Seattle, WA, he watched evening news with his mother, learning news from programs like Dateline, 20/20 and 60 Minutes.

Dakarai’s news career started as an intern at Chicago news stations WMAQ-TV, NBC5 News and WFLD-TV, FOX 32 News, while getting his degree from DePaul University. From there, Dakarai went south to Columbia, SC and worked at WLTX-TV. While there, he covered the trial that lead to the posthumous exoneration of George Stinney, Jr., a Black boy executed in 1944 after being convicted for the killing of two white girls.

From South Carolina, Dakarai went to Baltimore, MD to WMAR-TV where he worked as a general assignment reporter and covered the riots that happened after the death of Freddie Gray, Jr., a Black man who died in police custody. He was nominated for an Emmy for his live coverage. Then Dakarai returned to Chicago to work at WFLD-TV, where he covered breaking news in the Chicago area, before returning south to Memphis, TN to work at WHBQ-TV as an investigative reporter/anchor.

While in Memphis, Dakarai covered the police beating death of Tyre Nichols and subsequent issues around police killings of Black men.

Dakarai is an avid weightlifter, lover of dogs of all kinds and an unapologetic hater of cats. He likes to catch movies in the theater, hang with friends and go horseback riding, as well. Feel free to reach him on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, or by email at darakari.turner@wishtv.com.