Cleotha Abston Wiki – Cleotha Abston Biography
Cleotha Abston has been accused of kidnapping and killing Memphis teacher and business heiress Eliza Fletcher, whose body was recovered four days after her abduction. Ms. Fletcher, a 34-year-old mother of two and granddaughter of billionaire Joseph Orgill III, was abducted while jogging near the University of Memphis campus and forced into an SUV at 4 a.m. m. on Friday (September 2).
Abston, a 38-year-old convicted kidnapper who was released from prison in 2020 after serving 19 years, was arrested Saturday and has been charged with specially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence, Memphis police said. A body was discovered in the search for Mrs. Fletcher on Monday afternoon. The following morning, the police announced that the body had been positively identified as that of Mrs. Fletcher and murder charges were filed against Abston.
Cleotha Abston Age
Cleotha Abston is 38 years old.
Who is Cleotha Abston?
Police say Abston was driving a black 2013 GMC Terrain that was identified as a vehicle of interest by police and was seen near the University of Memphis, where Ms. Fletcher was abducted. According to a police affidavit, surveillance footage showed a man “aggressively” running toward Ms. Fletcher and forcing her into the dark-colored van.
Footage captured from a local theater reportedly shows Ms. Fletcher and a suspect struggling, and the vehicle remained stationary in a parking lot for four minutes before driving off. Footage recovered by police from the day before Ms Fletcher’s disappearance allegedly shows Abston wearing a pair of Champion sandals recovered from the scene.
DNA from the sandals has been matched to Abston’s, according to the police affidavit. According to the affidavit, statements from Abston’s employer confirmed that the vehicle used in the abduction is owned by a woman associated with her address.
According to the affidavit, Mr. Abston was seen cleaning the interior of his car and washing his clothes in the sink after the abduction. A witness and the suspect’s brother said they saw him behaving strangely at his home and undergoing cleaning later on Friday.
Even after the cleanup, authorities said they recovered blood and other evidence inside the vehicle, leading them to believe that Ms. Fletcher suffered a “serious injury.” Abston is reportedly refusing to cooperate with police or offer information on Ms. Fletcher’s whereabouts, according to the police affidavit.
When he confronted police outside his Memphis apartment, he reportedly tried to flee but was arrested by US Marshals on charges of especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence. On Monday afternoon, Memphis police charged Abston with three additional charges: identity theft, theft of property under $1,000 and fraudulent use of a credit card.
After Ms. Fletcher’s death was confirmed, Abston was indicted on new charges of first-degree murder and first-degree murder in the commission of a kidnapping. He is being held on $500,000 bail at the Shelby County jail and made his first appearance in court on Tuesday.
That afternoon, police filed an amended affidavit that provided additional details about how officers located Ms. Fletcher. Investigators with the Memphis Police Department and federal and state partners searching for Ms. Fletcher noticed vehicle tracks in tall grass leading to a vacant apartment at 1666 Victor St at 5:07 p.m. m. Monday, according to the affidavit.
A search and rescue officer smelled a “decay odor” and saw a set of footprints in the rear driveway of the facility. He then saw an “unresponsive woman” lying on the ground. The person, matching a description of Ms. Fletcher, was pronounced dead by the medical examiner shortly afterward, according to the court document.
Police found a pair of purple Lululemon shorts that matched a pair that Ms. Fletcher was wearing when she disappeared, dumped in a nearby garbage bag. Surveillance footage showed Abston’s black GMC Terrain nearby between 5:48 a.m. m. and 5:52 a.m. m., according to the affidavit.
His brother Mario Abston was arrested on separate charges as part of the police investigation, the Memphis Police Department said on Twitter. He faces three charges: possession of a controlled substance with the intent to manufacture and sell fentanyl, possession of a controlled substance with the intent to manufacture and sell heroin, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
Previous convictions
In 2000, Abston was convicted of the kidnapping and aggravated robbery of Memphis attorney Kemper Durand, Shelby County court records show. According to Commercial Appeal, Abston was 16 years old when he and another man, Marquette Cobbins, forced Durand into the trunk of a car at gunpoint before driving to an ATM to force him to withdraw money.
When they arrived at a Mapco gas station, Durand yelled for help after seeing an armed guard from the Memphis Housing Authority, court records show. “It is highly likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped,” Durand, who died in 2013, wrote in a victim impact statement, according to the Commercial Appeal.
According to Mr. Durand’s statement, Abston had a long juvenile rap sheet that included charges of robbery, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon and rape, dating back to 1995 when he was 12 years old. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison and was released in 2020, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.
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