Court Docs: Eliza Fletcher Murder Suspect Was Convicted of Kidnapping a Memphis Lawyer in 2000

Cleotha Abston, 38, the suspect in the abduction and murder of Eliza Fletcher, 34, was convicted of kidnapping a Memphis-based attorney in June 2000.

According to court documents obtained by the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Abston – who was 16 years old at the time – and Marquette Cobbins abducted lawyer Kemper Durand at gunpoint.

Per the Commercial Appeal:

Court records say Durand was forced into the trunk of his car before being forced to drive a Mapco gas station to withdraw money from an ATM for Abston.

At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked in and, when Kemper yelled for help, Abston and Marquette Cobbins ran away.

After both were apprehended, Abston was charged with aggravated robbery and aggravated kidnapping.

He was convicted and sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2001 and was released in November 2020.

Durand believes he would not be alive if he had not escaped their custody, according to an impact statement he wrote in 2003.

It took Abston until 2003 to sign a guilty plea, according to the victim.

Durand noted during the trial that Cobbins begged Abston to release the victim during the kidnapping and asked the judge to hand him a more lenient sentence.

Durand would testify that Cobbins was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The judge would end up giving Cobbins a lighter sentence of seven and a half years in prison, and he was eligible for parole 18 months later, the New York Post reported, citing the Memphis Flyer.

The Memphis lawyer also detailed that Abston had appeared in the juvenile court system multiple times.

Abston’s earliest appearance in juvenile court was in 1995, when he was 12 years old, and he appeared again in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999, according to court records via the Commercial Appeal.

Charges from those appearances include “theft, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, and rape.”

Durand died in February 2013, approximately nine and a half years before Abston allegedly abducted and killed Fletcher.

On Tuesday morning, the Memphis Police Department confirmed the death of the 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and heiress after her body was discovered Monday evening.

While jogging early Friday morning at the University of Memphis campus, Fletcher was abducted by an individual in a dark-colored GMC Terrain SUV.

Police say the suspect approached the 34-year-old female victim and forced her into the vehicle.

On Tuesday, Abston was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping. He was also previously charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence on Monday.

Abston was arrested on Sunday evening after police discovered a pair of Champion slide sandals near where Fletcher was abducted that had DNA matching the 38-year-old suspect, NBC News reported, citing an arrest affidavit. He was reportedly seen wearing them the night before the abduction.

The 38-year-old suspect is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

According to Shelby State District Attorney Steve Mulroy via CNN, officials believe that Fletcher’s murder was “an isolated attack by a stranger.”

“While the outcome of this investigation is not what we hoped for, we are nonetheless pleased to remove this dangerous predator off the streets of Memphis,” Mulroy added when speaking of Abston.

St. Mary’s Episcopal School, where Fletcher worked as a teacher, released a statement on Facebook mourning her death.

“We are heartbroken at the loss of our beloved teacher, colleague, and friend Liza Fletcher. Our hearts are with the Fletcher, Orgill, and Wellford families,” the school wrote.

Before her tragic death, Fletcher was married and had two young children.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.