Man charged with rape and murder of Memphis jogger Eliza Fletcher receives 80 years in prison for raping another woman

A Tennessee man was sentenced to 80 years in prison Friday for raping a woman. A year earlier, he was charged with kidnapping and killing a teacher who was out in the early morning hours.

Cleotha Abston, whose criminal record dates back to the 1990s when he was a minor, received 40 years in prison for aggravated rape, 20 years for aggravated kidnapping and another 20 years for illegal possession of a firearm. The sentences will be served consecutively or consecutively, ruled Judge Lee Coffee of Shelby County Criminal Court.

Abston, 40, was found guilty on April 12 of raping a woman at gunpoint in September 2021. The victim said she was raped after she met Abston on a social dating site and agreed to meet him at his apartment. A jury found that Abston covered the woman’s face with a T-shirt, led her out of the apartment and raped her in the back seat of his girlfriend’s car.

Coffee said Abston treated the victim “extraordinarily cruelly.”

Abston waived a sentencing hearing, where witnesses could have testified for or against him. His attorney, Juni Ganguli, said waiving a sentencing hearing meant they were able to avoid a “circus” in court. Prosecutor Paul Hagerman said Abston had “effectively received a life sentence.”

Ganguli said he intends to appeal the verdict and seek a retrial.

“We had a strong defense,” Ganguli told reporters in court on Friday. “I don’t believe for a second that he raped the woman or kidnapped her or that he had a gun, that he gave her a gun.”

Abston was not charged in the 2021 rape case until after he was accused of abducting Eliza Fletcher on the street while she was jogging before dawn near the University of Memphis on September 2, 2022, and dragging her into an SUV. Her body was found days later near a vacant duplex.

Authorities said Abston had not been arrested on rape charges before Fletcher’s murder because of long delays in processing the sex offender tool.

He has pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if Abston is convicted of Fletcher’s premeditated murder. A trial date in the case has not yet been set.

The murder of Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two, shocked the people of Memphis and sparked an outpouring of support for her family.

A week after her abduction, runners in Memphis and several other cities held an early morning run in her honor. Last year, a second run was held in Fletcher’s honor.

Abston, who also goes by Cleotha Henderson, was arrested after police discovered his DNA on sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen, an affidavit said. An autopsy report found Fletcher died of a gunshot wound to the head. She also had injuries to her right leg and a broken jaw.