by Madeleine Hubbard
The defendant in the killing of Tennessee teacher Eliza Fletcher was on Wednesday ordered held without bond, after he was charged with first-degree murder.
“In light of the change of circumstance, I’m going to order that there be no bond,” said a Shelby County Circuit judge. “The $500,000 bond is revoked.”
The defendant has been identified as Cleotha Abston, but in court proceedings Wednesday he asked to be identified as Cleotha Henderson.
Earlier this week, after Memphis-area police found Fletcher’s body, he was charged with kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
The defendant was charged with first-degree murder charges after police confirmed Tuesday that the body they found was Fletcher, a billionaire heiress and mother of two young boys. She was abducted while jogging Friday morning.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that they are not ruling out the death penalty if the defendant is convicted, according to the Daily Mail.
– – –
Madeleine Hubbard joined Just the News as a fast file reporter after working as an editor at Breitbart News. She previously served as the special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo “Cleotha Abston” by Shelby County Jail.
