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| Photo Credit: AP. |
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police in Tennessee said Tuesday they had found the body of a Memphis woman abducted during a pre-dawn run, confirming fears that Eliza Fletcher was killed after she was forced into an SUV on Friday morning.
The news
followed an exhaustive search throughout the long weekend with dogs, ATVs and a
helicopter in a case that has drawn national media attention and is already
becoming a source of partisan controversy over criminal sentencing and parole.
U.S.
Marshals arrested Cleotha Abston, 38, on Saturday after police detected his DNA
on a pair of sandals found near to where Fletcher was last seen, according to
an arrest affidavit. Police did not find Fletcher’s body until just after 5
p.m. on Monday and did not publicly confirm that the body was Fletcher’s until
Tuesday morning. The 34-year-old Fletcher was a school teacher and the granddaughter
of a prominent Memphis businessman.
Abston was
released from prison in 2020 after serving 20 years for a previous kidnapping.
On Tuesday morning, he made his first court appearance on charges of
kidnapping, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft, and fraudulent use
of a credit card.
Several of
Fletcher’s relatives were in the courtroom along with more than 20 media
members as Abston was issued a $510,000 bond. Abston said he could not afford
bond and he could not afford a lawyer. General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi
appointed a public defender to represent Abston.
Court
records showed Abston also has been charged with first-degree murder. He is
scheduled to appear in court again Wednesday.
Memphis
Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said it was too early in the investigation
to determine how and where Fletcher was killed. Davis said the body was found
behind a vacant duplex. A police affidavit said officers noticed vehicle tracks
next to the duplex’s driveway, and they “smelled an odor of decay.”
Purple
running shorts whose appearance was consistent with those Fletcher was wearing
were found in a discarded trash bag nearby, the affidavit said.
Abston
previously kidnapped a prominent Memphis attorney in 2000 when he was just 16
years old. He spent 20 years in prison for that crime, but he had been
sentenced to 24. Some prominent Tennessee Republicans on Tuesday were quick to
argue that had Abston served his full sentence, Fletcher would still be alive.
“This case not only proves that the recently passed Truth in Sentencing Act was necessary, but that it was long overdue,” Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally said in a statement Tuesday. “We must redouble our efforts to ensure those who transgress against citizens are punished — and severely.”
The statute
requires serving entire sentences for various felonies, including attempted
first-degree murder, vehicular homicide resulting from the driver’s
intoxication and carjacking.
Newly
elected Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, a Democrat, said Tuesday
it was time for grief and “not trying to use this case as a political
football.”
Mulroy has
notably voiced his opposition to the truth in sentencing law, arguing it does
not reduce crime and drives up Tennessee’s prison budget. Speaking Tuesday, he
called Fletcher’s case an “isolated attack by a stranger.” Mulroy noted that
Abston served 85% of his previous sentence and the DA’s office had opposed
parole.
In the
earlier kidnapping, Abston forced Kemper Durand into the trunk of his own car
at gunpoint, the Commercial Appeal reported. After several hours, Abston took
Durand out and forced him to drive to a Mapco gas station to withdraw money
from an ATM. At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked in
and Durand yelled for help. Abston ran away but was found and arrested. He
pleaded guilty in 2001 to especially aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery,
according to court records.
Durand, in a
victim impact statement, wrote, “I was extremely lucky that I was able to
escape from the custody of Cleotha Abston. ... It is quite likely that I would
have been killed had I not escaped,” the Commercial Appeal reported.
Fletcher is
the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a Memphis hardware businessman
and philanthropist. Her case is the latest that reinforces the fears of many
female athletes when it comes to working out alone, at night or in secluded
places. Crime statistics show these types of attacks are exceedingly rare.
Women out for a run face much greater dangers from traffic. But the fear they
inspire is real, as are smaller-scale episodes of harassment or assaults on
women, even in well-populated areas.
In a
statement, Fletcher’s family said it was “heartbroken and devastated by this
senseless loss.”
“Liza was a
such a joy to so many ... Now it’s time to remember and celebrate how special
she was and to support those who cared so much for her,” the statement said.
In a
Facebook post, St. Mary’s Episcopal School, where Fletcher taught kindergarten,
said faculty and staff started Tuesday in chapel and lit candles to remember
her as “a bright light in our community.”
Associated
Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi and Travis Loller contributed to this report
from Nashville, Tennessee.