- Cleotha Abston is a 40-year-old American kidnapper who has a long criminal history
- After serving over 20 years of jail term, Cleotha is again charged for the kidnap and murder of a billionaire heiress, Eliza Fletcher who went missing on Friday, September 2, 2022
- While the police were on his trial, his brother Mario Abston was discovered to be in possession of drugs and firearms
Cleotha Abston, Eliza Fletcher’s murder suspect is a 40-year-old American criminal known to have kidnapped, rapped, and murdered innocent American citizens over the years.
He was first sent to jail at 18 for kidnapping a lawyer named Kemper Duran. Despite staying behind bars for over 20 years, the infamous kidnapper still moved back to his previous criminal life. At the moment, he is being charged with multiple criminal offenses including the kidnap and first-degree murder of Eliza Fletcher.
Early Life and Criminal Record of Cleotha Abston
According to available records, Abston was born in 1984 and is a native of Memphis Tennessee.
Much is not known about his family except for his brother Mario Abston who is said to be an aspiring rapper. Cleotha is also known to have an uncle named Nathaniel Isaac.
The 40-years-old’s early life was characterized by several criminal acts. He dropped out of school in 9th grade and started picking things that did not belong to him when he was only 11 years old.
At 14, he began to face several criminal charges, mostly relating to rape. When he turned 16, he notably kidnapped a Memphis Lawyer named Kemper Duran at gunpoint and forced him to withdraw some money from an ATM nearby.
He was later arrested and found to be guilty of kidnapping by the court. This earned him a 24 years prison sentence which he started serving when he turned 18. However, he was released in November 2020 after over 2 decades of incarceration.
His Brother, Mario Abston also has a Long Criminal History
Cleotha’s brother Mario Abston also has a long criminal history just like Abston. He is known to have been previously arrested for illegal possession of arms in 2007 and domestic violence in 2018.
Furthermore, Fresh charges of illegal possession of arms and drugs were meted out on Mario in 2022.
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Cleotha Abston’s Life After Prison and the Murder of Eliza Fletcher
After Abston was released from prison in 2020, he reunited with his brother Mario Abston in Memphis Tennessee, and impressively began to work as a car cleaner in a nearby cleaning service.
Unfortunately, Abston’s old habits never died despite his long jail term. He decided to slip back to the same crime that got him in trouble several years back when he laid his hands on Eliza Fletcher.
On Friday, September 2, 2022, Eliza Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher at St. Mary’s Episcopal School and billionaire heiress of the Joe Orgill family was reported to be missing by her husband Richard Fletcher.
Investigations by the authorities later revealed that she was actually kidnapped by Cleotha Abston around 4:00 am when she went jogging near the University of Memphis. The police got to know that Cleotha was responsible for her kidnap because his DNA matched the sample found by the investigating team at the scene of the crime.
Furthermore, police confirmed Cleotha’s involvement in the crime because CCTV captured the SUV car he used to kidnap Eliza. Abston’s boss as well said that he had previously seen Abston with the car in question. More so, another eye witness confirmed that she saw Abston washing the interior of the same SUV car some hours after Fletcher was reported missing.
With all these shreds of evidence, the police were convinced beyond doubt that Cleotha was the kidnapper. However, he declined to share Fletcher’s location despite several interrogations.
The case became more serious when the authorities found Fletcher’s corpse on September 5, 2022, in a house 7 miles away from where she was kidnapped by Abston.
Abston’s Charges, Bond, and Legal Hearings
Abston is currently facing charges of kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping. Others are identity theft, abduction, theft of property, and fraudulent use of a credit card.
He had been to court 3 times after he was apprehended by the police and his defense motion was slated for September 8, 2022.
While the hearing on his case is still on, Shelby County district attorney, Steve Mulroy said on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, that a first-degree murder conviction carries sentences of life in prison with or without parole or the death penalty.
As it stands, Cleotha’s prosecutors have asked that his $500,000 bond be revoked by the court. This means he will be temporarily held without bond until the hearing on his case is completed.
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