A Tennessee man admits to kidnapping and killing a mother of two while out for an early morning run in September 2022 and pleaded guilty on Monday to a raft of charges, including first-degree murder.
Cleotha Abston was scheduled to stand trial on February 10, but pleaded guilty Monday to the murder of Eliza Fletcher, as well as aggravated kidnapping for her abduction and tampering with evidence.
The 40-year-old received a life sentence without the possibility of parole. In a statement, the Shelby County District Attorney Office described the day’s court proceedings as “bringing a formal end to a case that has deeply shaken the community.”
“Today’s agreement achieves finality for the family,” the county’s district attorney, Steven Mulroy, said in a second statement . “The defendant gives up his right to appeal, so there won’t be years and decades of appeals. It also helps the community, because this dangerous person will never again walk our streets.”
“He will die in prison.”
Fletcher, 34, teaches kindergarten at Memphis’ St. Mary’s Episcopal School. On September 4, 2022, while jogging near the University of Memphis campus, her kidnapping occurred at 4:30 a.m. After a struggle, authorities say they forced her into a sports utility vehicle.
Shortly after, police announced Abston’s arrest. Police located him inside the suspect SUV.
Following a days-long search, authorities discovered Fletcher’s body three days after her disappearance. Abston, a convicted felon who was released from prison in November 2020 after serving a sentence for abduction in 2000, was identified as a suspect after reviewing CCTV footage and forensic evidence.
“We have no idea what happened to you to turn you into someone so filled with a desire to hurt people. Whatever it was, it does not excuse or explain what you have done,” Mulroy said Monday during sentencing, reading a statement written by Fletcher’s family to Abston.
“You have changed our lives forever, and nothing will ever be the same. Your actions were evil. There is no other word for it. You murdered Liza, even though she did nothing to deserve it. She did not hurt you. In fact, she would’ve been the first to help if you needed it.”