Eliza Fletcher latest: Cleotha Abston’s teen rape conviction revealed as he’s arraigned for teacher’s murder

“Now it’s time to remember and celebrate how special she was and to support those who cared so much for her,” family of murdered Memphis woman Eliza Fletcher say in statement.

Grainy video footage that purportedly shows murder-accused Cleotha Abston cleaning a dark SUV in the hours after Eliza Fletcher was abducted has been obtained by Memphis news network WREG.

There is no indication that the law firm connection between Fletcher’s uncle Mike Keeney and Kemper Durand has anything to do with her murder, which investigators described as an ‘isolated attack by a stranger’.

Rachel Sharp reports.

The man accused of the kidnap and murder of Eliza Fletcher received a medical evaluation after appearing in court on Wednesday, Fox News reports.

Cleotha Abston, who asked to use his paternal surname of Henderson during Wednesday’s hearing, was ordered held without bond at Shelby County jail.

A sheriff’s office spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Memphis community is planning to hold a run event on Friday to honour Eliza Fletcher and raise awareness around the harrowing circumstances of her death.

Called “Let’s Finish Liza’s Run”, the event was originally intended for a few friends to jog 10 miles together but quickly exploded as a Facebook post announcing it went viral.

“My intention was to start near her home and run down Central to Zach H Curlin and back down Central,” organiser Danielle Heineman told ABC24. “However, it blew up from my original Facebook post, so now we’re looking at starting from either Peabody and Belvedere or Central and Belvedere as to not have a crowd near her home.”

Ms Heineman said she is hoping the event will send a message to critics who have cast blame on Ms Fletcher for going out for a jog at a time they deem unsafe.

“We do run at four o’clock in the morning, and you know what, we can run at four o’clock in the morning,” she said. “And we can wear our sports bra and our shorts and not be fully covered up head to toe.”

“We want to stand up and say it’s OK for women to run at 4 o’clock in the morning and it’s OK for women to run in whatever type of clothing they feel comfortable in,” the organiser of the Let’s Finish Liza’s Run event tells The Independent.

Cleotha Abston, who has been charged with the abduction and murder of heiress Eliza Fletcher, spent 20 years in prison for kidnapping and robbery before being released in 2020.

Here’s everything we know about Mr Abston, who has since asked that he be known as Cleotha Henderson.

Memphis police confirmed on Tuesday morning that a body found during an “intensive” city-wide search was positively identified as missing mother of two Eliza Fletcher. Ms Fletcher, 34,was abducted while out jogging near the University of Memphis campus early on Friday morning (2 September) in what police have described as a random attack.

Here is a timeline of events in the case.

Video has surfaced of Eliza Fletcher, the Tennessee kindergarten teacher who was kidnapped and killed last week, recording a song for her students.

In the clip, Fletcher, a junior teacher at St Mary’s Episcopal school in Memphis, sings “This Little Light of Mine” and tells students about her dog. The video, which has been viewed more than 530,000 times on Twitter.

Josh Marcus has the story.

Cleotha Abston was convicted of raping a man when he was a teenager – almost three decades before he allegedly kidnapped and murdered Memphis business heiress Eliza Fletcher.

Abston, now 38, was just 14 years old when he committed a juvenile delinquent act of rape against an unnamed male, according to court documents.

The charge was sustained and the teenager was placed in the custody of Shelby County’s Youth Services Bureau.

Rachel Sharp has the story.