Authorities announced Tuesday that new charges have been brought against 38-year-old Cleotha Abston regarding the death of Eliza “Liza” Fletcher, a kindergarten teacher and granddaughter of a wealthy philanthropist.
Since his arrest this week Abston – who was released from prison in November 2020 after serving more than 20 years for a previous kidnapping – has been charged with: specially aggravated kidnapping, tampering with evidence, first degree murder and first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnapping.
According to Commercial Appeal, Abston was convicted in June 2000 of kidnapping Memphis-based lawyer Kemper Durand at gunpoint.
“Court records say Durand was forced into the trunk of his car before being forced to drive [to] a Mapco gas station to withdraw money from an ATM for Abston,” said the outlet. Durand yelled to an armed housing authority officer for help, leading Abston and other suspects to flee.
After the incident, Durand, who passed away in 2013 at 73, argued for leniency for his kidnappers and later said he just didn’t want to “wallow in” the fear he faced being held by an armed kidnapper. He even referenced the kidnapping in an advertisement for Commercial Bank & Trust, which was owned by a friend of Durand, said an obituary on a Yale Class of 1961 webpage.
Now, less than two years after his release, Abston has been charged in the kidnapping of 34-year-old Fletcher, granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III. He ran Orgill Inc., a hardware distributor based in Memphis with a revenue of $3.2 billion last year. Contrary to some reports, Orgill was not a billionaire, according to a family statement cited by The New York Times.
Fletcher was jogging in midtown Memphis at 4:30 a.m. Friday when she was forced into a dark colored GMC Terrain, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. By Sunday, police had taken Abston into custody for her kidnapping.
Mario Abston, 36, was also charged with possession of a controlled substance with Intent to manufacture and sell fentanyl, possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture and sell heroin, and convicted felon in possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.
Fletcher was found deceased in the 1600 block of Victor Street in Memphis Monday, according to the Memphis Police Department.
“We are heartbroken by the outcome of this case,” said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation this week.
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