Eliza Fletcher Cause Of Death Revealed Killer Cleotha Henderson Now Also Charged In 2021 Rape

MEMPHIS, TN. (THECOUNT) — Eliza Fletcher, the woman found dead in a vacant home after she was forced into a vehicle while running on the University of Memphis campus early this month, died a horrible death, according to newly released information.

The 34-year-old kindergarten teacher, who was kidnapped during a pre-dawn run and then killed earlier this month in Memphis, died from a gunshot wound to the head, an autopsy report released Thursday showed.

Fletcher had a gunshot wound in the back of the head and also had blunt-force injuries to her right leg and jaw fractures, according to the autopsy completed by the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center in Memphis.

Cleotha Henderson, aka, Cleotha Abston, has been charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in the grisly case.

After being charged with killing Fletcher, Henderson was charged with raping a woman in September 2021 — about a year before Fletcher was killed. Henderson was not arrested on rape charges before Fletcher’s killing because evidence from a sexual assault kit test had not been available at the time, authorities said.

Henderson also previously kidnapped a prominent Memphis attorney in 2000 when he was 16 years old. He spent 20 years in prison for that crime.

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