Kidnap, Murder of Memphis Teacher Prompts Calls for Tougher Sentencing

Truth-in-sentencing advocates are saying that a slain Memphis kindergarten teacher kidnapped while jogging on Friday would still be alive if stricter sentencing requirements passed earlier this year were in place when her suspected killer was released from jail two years ago.Law enforcement identified the body of Eliza Fletcher, a mother of two, in Memphis on Tuesday. She was forced into a dark GMC Terrain while out for a jog near the University of Memphis campus around 4:20 a.m. on Friday. Fletcher is the granddaughter of a billionaire hardware magnate, Joseph Orgil III. Fletcher’s husband called the police after she didn’t return from the jog on Friday. After a multi-day search by Memphis police, the FBI, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, officers found Fletcher’s body near a vacant duplex on Monday. Police have arrested Cleotha Abston, 38, for the kidnapping, and after identifying Fletcher’s body, have charged him with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping. Abston was released from state prison in 2020 after serving 20 years of a 24-year sentence for aggravated kidnapping. Abston has a violent criminal history dating back to 1995, when he was 12 years old. His juvenile criminal rap sheet included charges of theft, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, and rape, according to sentencing testimony from his 2000 conviction reported by the Commercial Appeal in Memphis. In 2000, Abston was arrested, tried, and convicted of aggravated kidnapping of a prominent Memphis attorney, Kemper Durand. Abston forced Durand into the trunk of his own car, then demanded at gunpoint that Durand withdraw money from a gas station ATM, according to Durand’s obituary. Durand was able to escape when an armed, uniformed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked into the gas station while he was using the ATM.In a sentencing statement reported by the Commercial Appeal, Durand wrote that “it is quite likely that I would have been killed had I not escaped.” Abston was sentenced to 24 years in state prison, and was released in 2020. Top Republicans in Tennessee are saying Fletcher would still be alive if Abston had not been released early. “This unspeakable crime was as heinous as it was preventable,” Tennessee’s lieutenant governor, Randy McNally, said. “The monster that committed this crime was not unknown to the criminal justice system. He had done this type of thing before, and now he has done it again — and worse. It is simply disgraceful that this individual did not serve his full sentence for his previous crimes. If he had, Eliza Fletcher would be alive today.”Tennessee’s state legislature passed truth-in-sentencing legislation earlier this year, requiring certain violent criminals, including those convicted of especially aggravated kidnapping, to serve 100 percent of their prison sentences without possibility of parole. Mr. McNally sponsored the bill, along with the speaker of the Tennessee state House, Cameron Sexton. The law went into effect on July 1 without the signature of Tennessee’s governor, Bill Lee, who has pushed for criminal justice reform. “This case and others like it also demonstrate how far society has gone to protect violent criminals instead of victims,” Mr. Sexton told the Sun. “We are more worried about their feelings than we are about victims and their families. Additionally, soft-on-crime initiatives create more victims every day by pacifying criminals and by not holding them accountable. Rehabilitation programs don’t work on evil.”While in state prison, Abston reportedly had dozens of violations, but he was not under supervision following his release. Shelby County’s district attorney, Steve Mulroy, agreed that Abston could be released from jail if he was able to post 10 percent of a $500,000 bond. “One of the government’s main roles is protecting the public, and some elected officials have lost sight of that lately,” Mr. Sexton said. “It’s time to stop standing with criminals and stand strong with victims. Tougher, longer sentences, where the violent criminal serves every single day, will reduce crime, be a deterrent, and protect our communities.”A former Shelby County district attorney, Amy Weirich, a strong proponent of stiffer prison sentences and truth in sentencing, was present at the bill signing ceremony with Messrs. Sexton and McNally in Memphis this spring. In last month’s elections, Ms. Weirich was defeated by Mr. Mulroy, a former councilman and proponent of criminal justice reform. Mr. Mulroy was sworn into office one day before Fletcher went missing. “To lose someone so young and vital is a tragedy, but to have it result from a senseless act of violence is unimaginable,” Mr. Mulroy said in a statement late Tuesday. “Any murder is a tragedy. Any murder in our jurisdiction is high priority. All deserve our care and best efforts…. We will work to do justice in this case and all other cases in the hopes we can prevent such tragedies.”Meanwhile, more legislation to stiffen penalties for violent criminals may be coming next year. A Republican state representative who represents East Memphis and knew Fletcher and her family, John Gillespie, said Tuesday that he plans to propose new bills next year to punish violent criminals. “Mrs. Fletcher’s kidnapping and murder seems to be a tipping point in the fight against violent crime in our community,” Mr. Gillespie said. “Our community must send a strong message that there are no second chances for those who commit brutal, violent crimes against other people.” Mr. McNally said Tennessee’s truth-in-sentencing was “long overdue,” and signaled more legislation to come.“We must redouble our efforts to ensure those who transgress against citizens are punished — and severely,” he said. “Not only must evildoers pay the full price for their crimes, that punishment must serve as a warning that these actions simply will not be tolerated in our society.”Abston’s bond was revoked in court on Wednesday morning, and he is expected to be arraigned on Thursday.

Kidnap, Murder of Memphis Teacher Prompts Calls for Tougher Sentencing

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