‘What happened to you’: Eliza Fletcher’s family agrees to spare her killer from death sentence

Cleotha Abston (Shelby County Jail). Eliza Fletcher (Memphis Police Department).

With the support of a slain teacher’s family, prosecutors in Shelby County, Tennessee, reached a plea deal with her killer. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office previously sought the death penalty against Cleotha Abston, 40, for abducting, beating, and shooting Eliza Fletcher, 34, while she was on an early-morning jog.

On Monday, however, they announced that they reached a deal in which he pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree aggravated kidnapping, and tampering with evidence, authorities said. In exchange, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said they reached the deal with the support of Fletcher’s family. District Attorney Steve Mulroy read their statement on their behalf in court, in which they mourned Eliza, and called out Abston for his actions.

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“We have no idea what happened to you to turn you into someone so filled with a desire to hurt people,” they wrote. “Whatever it was, it does not excuse or explain what you have done. 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.”

Prosecutors described Fletcher as a devoted mother and beloved kindergarten teacher at St. Mary’s Episcopal School.