Man accused of abducting, killing kindergarten teacher Eliza Fletcher pleads guilty

Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A Tennessee man has admitted to kidnapping and killing a mother of two out for an early morning run in September 2022, pleading guilty Monday to a slew of charges, including first-degree murder.

The man, Cleotha Abston, was expected to go to trial starting Feb. 10 but entered his guilty plea Monday to the murder of Eliza Fletcher, as well as aggravated kidnapping for her abduction and tampering with evidence.

The 40-year-old has been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The Shelby County District Attorney Office described the day's court proceedings in a statement 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, taught kindergarten at Memphis' St. Mary's Episcopal School. She was jogging near the University of Memphis campus on Sept. 4, 2022, when she was abducted around 4:30 a.m. Authorities said she was forced into a sports utility vehicle following a struggle.

Police announced shortly after that Abston had been arrested. He was found in the suspect SUV.

What followed was a days-long search for Fletcher, whose body was found three days after she disappeared. Abston, a convicted felon who was released from prison in November 2020 after serving a sentence for kidnapping in 2000, was identified as a suspect through surveillance 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."