Man pleads guilty to killing, kidnapping Memphis teacher during her jog

A Tennessee man pleaded blameworthy Monday to kidnapping a Memphis schoolhouse coach while she was connected an early greeting tally and past sidesplitting her.

Cleotha Abston entered blameworthy pleas to first-degree execution and particularly aggravated kidnapping successful nan abduction and decease of Eliza Fletcher.

Abston, who astatine times has besides gone by nan past sanction Henderson, lowered his caput erstwhile speaking to nan judge but showed nary guidance aft pleading guilty, CBS connection WREG-TV reported.

Abston, 40, had been group to guidelines proceedings successful February. Prosecutors had said they would activity nan decease penalty if Abston were convicted of first-degree murder. Instead, Judge Lee Coffee sentenced Abston to life successful situation without parole aft he entered nan blameworthy pleas.

Fletcher was grabbed from a thoroughfare while she was jogging earlier dawn adjacent nan University of Memphis connected Sept. 2, 2022, and forced into an SUV. Her assemblage was recovered days later adjacent a vacant duplex.

The sidesplitting of Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten coach and mother of two, shocked nan Memphis organization and led to a flood of support for her family. Runners successful Memphis and respective different cities held early greeting moving events successful her grant a week aft she was abducted, a contented that has continued successful nan metropolis connected nan day of her kidnapping.

In a statement, Fletcher's family said they "miss nan agleam ray of Liza's life each day."

"Liza meant truthful overmuch to truthful many, and her grin radiated happiness, energy, and comfort," her family said. "Her husband, her children, her parents, her brother, nan remainder of her family, her friends, her students, her schoolhouse families, her chap teachers, her religion community, and truthful galore others were moved by countless examples of her faith, kindness, and compassion."

Eliza Fletcher Memphis Police Department

Abston was arrested aft constabulary detected his DNA connected sandals recovered adjacent nan location wherever Fletcher was past seen. An autopsy report showed Fletcher died of a gunshot coiled to nan head. She besides had injuries to her correct limb and jaw fractures.

"We had been gathering pinch him regularly for nan past fewer months and had been telling him that we request to settee this case, that we cannot spell guardant pinch a proceedings and expect to succeed," said Juni Ganguli, Abston's lawyer.

Abston was sentenced to 80 years successful situation May 17 for raping a female a twelvemonth earlier he was charged successful Fletcher's death. He was convicted successful April of raping nan female while holding her astatine gunpoint successful September 2021.

Abston, whose history of criminal charges dates backmost to nan 1990s erstwhile he was a juvenile, was not charged successful nan 2021 rape lawsuit until aft being charged a twelvemonth later pinch sidesplitting Fletcher because of a agelong hold successful processing nan intersexual battle kit. After Fletcher's death, nan Legislature passed a rule requiring nan Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to rumor a quarterly study connected intersexual battle kit testing times.

WREG-TV reported that District Attorney Steve Mulroy besides publication a connection successful tribunal from nan victim's family, which was directed astatine Abston:

"We person nary thought what happened to you to move you into personification truthful filled pinch a desire to wounded people. Whatever it was, it does not excuse aliases explicate what you person done. You person changed our lives forever, and thing will ever beryllium nan same. Your actions were evil. There is nary different connection for it. You murdered Liza, moreover though she did thing to merit it. She did not wounded you. In fact, she would've been nan first to thief if you needed it."

In:
• Murder
• Kidnapping
• Memphis