40-year-old Cleotha Abston was sentenced to life behind bars without the possibility of parole for the 2022 murder of a Memphis kindergarten teacher. He pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping. Abston chose not to appeal, ending the case that had lasted over two years, according to officials, per CNN.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said,
“Today’s agreement achieves finality for the family… It also helps the community, because this dangerous person will never again walk our streets. He will die in prison.”
Eliza Fletcher, a kindergarten teacher and mother, disappeared on Sept. 2, 2022, while running early in the morning. Her husband alerted the police when she didn’t come home. Surveillance video showed her being chased by a man at 4 a.m. near the University of Memphis. The man was later identified as Abston, who forced her into a black SUV.
The affidavit revealed that the SUV stayed parked for four minutes before leaving. Abston was apprehended the following day after officials located the car near his home. He attempted to escape but was captured. Three days later, Fletcher’s body was discovered behind an empty building, twenty minutes from her abduction site.
Officials identified and arrested the suspect after retrieving DNA from a pair of shoes near the abduction location.
