A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Monday to kidnapping a Memphis school teacher while she was out for an early morning run and then killing her.
Cleotha Abston pleaded guilty to first degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the kidnapping and death of Eliza Fletcher.
Abston, who sometimes also goes by the last name Henderson, lowered his head when he spoke to the judge but showed no reaction after pleading guilty, CBS affiliate WREG-TV reported.
Abston, 40, was scheduled to stand trial in February. Prosecutors had said they would ask for the death penalty if Abston was convicted of first-degree murder. Instead, Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Abston to life in prison without parole after he pleaded guilty.
Fletcher was grabbed on a street while jogging before dawn near the University of Memphis on September 2, 2022, and forced into an SUV. Her body was found days later near a vacant duplex.
The killing of Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two, shocked the Memphis community and sparked an outpouring of support for her family. Runners in Memphis and several other cities organized early morning races in his honor a week after his kidnapping, a tradition that continued in the city on the anniversary of his kidnapping.
In a statement, Fletcher’s family said they miss “the bright light of Liza’s life every day.”
“Liza meant so much to so many people and her smile radiated happiness, energy and comfort,” her family said. “Her husband, her children, her parents, her brother, the rest of her family, her friends, her students, her school families, her fellow teachers, her church community and so many others were touched by the countless examples of his faith, kindness and compassion.
Memphis Police Department
Abston was arrested after police detected his DNA on sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen. A autopsy report showed that Fletcher died from a gunshot wound to the head. She also had injuries to her right leg and fractures to her jaw.
“We have met with him regularly over the last few months and told him that we have to settle this matter, that we cannot pursue a trial and expect to be successful,” said Juni Ganguli, Abston’s attorney.
Abston was sentenced to 80 years in prison on May 17 for raping a woman a year before he was charged in Fletcher’s death. He was convicted in April of raping the woman while holding her at gunpoint in September 2021.
Abston, whose criminal charges date back to the 1990s when he was a juvenile, was not charged in the 2021 rape case until after he was charged a year later with Fletcher’s murder due to a long delay in processing sexual assault kit. After Fletcher’s death, the Legislature passed a law requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue a quarterly report on sexual assault kit testing times.
WREG-TV reported that District Attorney Steve Mulroy also read a statement in court from the victim’s family, which took aim at Abston:
“We have no idea what happened to you to make you someone so willing to hurt others. Regardless, it does not excuse or explain what you did. You changed our lives forever and nothing will ever be the case.” The same. Your actions were wrong. There is no other word for it. You murdered Liza, even though she did nothing to deserve it. In fact, she would have been the first to help you if you needed it. he.”
