Far-Left Memphis District Attorney: Eliza Fletcher’s Murder an ‘Isolated Attack by a Stranger’

Shelby County District Attorney Steven Mulroy (D), an advocate for far-left jailbreak policies, says 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two Eliza Fletcher’s murder is merely an “isolated attack by a stranger.”

Last Friday, Fletcher was abducted at approximately 4:20 p.m. while jogging around the University of Memphis campus by an individual in a dark-colored GMC Terrain. Her body was discovered Monday evening, approximately 7.5 miles away from where she was abducted, and authorities official confirmed her death the following morning.

Convicted felon Cleotha Abston, 38-years-old, has been charged with kidnapping and murdering Fletcher. Abston is expected to be arraigned before a judge on Wednesday and is due in court again on Thursday.

Mulroy, who recently beat Republican Amy Weirich in the Shelby County District Attorney’s race, this week called Fletcher’s murder “an isolated attack by a stranger.”

Abston, though, has an extensive criminal record dating back to 1995 when he was just 12-years-old. Abston appeared in court on criminal charges in 1996, 1997, 1998, and 1999 for “theft, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a weapon, and rape,” according to court documents via the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

In 2000, then-16-year-old Abston abducted Memphis-based lawyer Kemper Durand at gunpoint and forced him into the back trunk of a vehicle with accomplice Marquette Cobbins.

As Durand was brought to a Mapco gas station, he was ordered by Abston to withdraw money from an ATM. At the same time, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked into the station, prompting Durand to yell for help.

The two kidnappers ran away but were both later taken into custody and subsequently convicted of Durand’s kidnapping. During the trial, Durand told the court that Abston was the main instigator of the kidnapping, and Cobbins pleaded with him to let the lawyer go.

The judge gave Cobbins a lighter sentence of seven and a half years in prison, and he was eligible for parole 18 months later. Abston received a sentence of 24 years in prison in 2000 but was released early from prison on parole after serving 20 years of his 24-year sentence.

Though Mulroy said the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office opposed Abston’s early release from prison on parole, he opposes the state’s “Truth in Sentencing” law that took effect this year to ensure that violent criminals like Abston serve their full sentences rather than being released early on parole.

Likewise, Mulroy has also said he supports bail reforms similar to those imposed in New York City, New York, where accused criminals are quickly released from jail without ever having to pay bail.

“We need to get away from the status quo where hundreds and hundreds of people languish behind bars … who haven’t been convicted of any crime, often nonviolent offenses, for no other reason than they can’t afford cash bail,” Mulroy said in a July interview.

Mulroy was boosted in his race this year against incumbent Weirich with the help of far-left jailbreak organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Real Justice PAC.

BlackLivesMatter organizer Shaun King, along with socialist activist Becky Bond and others, founded Real Justice PAC to support candidates like Mulroy who oppose cash bail and want lighter prison sentences in favor of “restorative justice.”

In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Mulroy sought to appeal as a tough-on-crime prosecutor, suggesting he strongly opposed Abston’s early release from prison, even as he does not support the state’s Truth in Sentencing law.

“If he was serving his full sentence, we don’t know what would have happened after that, but clearly, this particular crime would not have occurred,” Mulroy said.

Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson said Fletcher’s case encompasses the jailbreak agenda of far-left politicians and activists. Carlson said:

The good people who lived in Memphis a century ago would never believe what has happened to the city they built. They would weep if they saw it. That will be the experience of every American before long. Our entire country will be Memphis if we don’t put a stop to this insanity right now with as much force as is required.

On the night of Fletcher’s abduction, police allege that Abston was stalking the area for roughly half an hour. When Abston did allegedly abduct Fletcher, police say there was a struggle between the two before Fletcher was forced into Abston’s vehicle.

Hours after Fletcher was abducted, eyewitnesses say they saw Abston cleaning the inside of his dark-colored SUV with floor cleaner. Investigators zeroed in on Abston as the alleged suspect when they found a Champion sandal with his DNA on it. Even after his arrest, Abston would not disclose where Fletcher’s body was located.

In an unrelated case, Abston is accused of allegedly stealing another women’s wallet and using her credit cards the day before Fletcher’s murder. He was charged with identity theft, theft of property $1,000 or less, and illegal possession of credit cards.

Eliza Fletcher was a mother of two children and was married to her husband, Richie, before her death. She is the granddaughter of Joseph Orgill III, the founder of Orgill Inc., a billion-dollar hardware company.

Fletcher also was a teacher at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, an all-girls academy, where she taught kindergarteners.

“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 said in a statement on Facebook, mourning her death.

Abston is now being held without bail in Shelby County Jail.

You can follow Ethan Letkeman on Twitter at @EthanLetkeman.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.