Could MPD have jailed Cleotha Henderson sooner?
Fresh questions surface about a series of expunged burglaries linked to murder defendant Cleotha Henderson.
There are 83 article(s) tagged Eliza Fletcher:
Fresh questions surface about a series of expunged burglaries linked to murder defendant Cleotha Henderson.
A lawsuit includes a claim that had a 2021 rape been properly investigated and had Cleotha Henderson been arrested, the abduction and murder of Eliza Fletcher could have been avoided.
Memphis has a massive crime problem. Steve Mulroy has lofty ideas about criminal justice reform, but priority is to reduce crime and make the city safer.
Barring some technicality in the law, there is nothing complicated about whether there is a link between Alicia Franklin’s rape and Eliza Fletcher’s murder.
Attorneys for the City of Memphis want a judge to dismiss rape victim Alicia Franklin’s lawsuit, contending MPD owed Alicia Franklin no duty to investigate to the extent she wanted.
Following the murder of Eliza Fletcher, questions loom about MPD’s systems in investigating violent crime.
Eliza Fletcher’s kidnapping and murder in September galvanized a city, and Memphians responded by the thousands — both here and nationwide.
Despite 53 disciplinary infractions, Cleotha Henderson served only 19 years of a 24-year sentence
The Daily Memphian obtained Henderson’s prison records from the Tennessee Department of Corrections; the documents reveal 53 infractions.
Henderson, also known by the surname Abston, is charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
An amended lawsuit contends Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer avoided arrest for rape in 2021 despite implicating details that a second witness gave Memphis police days after the attack.
The handling of Alicia Franklin’s rape kit and Eliza Fletcher’s death should not be framed as another example of Memphis’ high crime rates or counted as failings unique to the Memphis Police Department, says guest columnist Sarah Hunter Simanson.
When highly publicized crimes shake a community, as recently happened in Memphis, the emotional and mental aftershocks linger. And leave behind the most uncomfortable of questions: Why do bad things happen to good people?
The autopsy was released by the West Tennessee Forensic Center.
While some murder victims are remembered publicly as real, complex people, others are seen as simply statistics. And for their loved ones, that can make the pain even worse.
The amount of time needed to process a rape kit at TBI’s West Tennessee crime lab in Jackson ranged from 33 to 49 weeks over the past year. The statewide backlog was up to more than 950 kits awaiting testing as of last month.
Recent crime in Memphis has made national, and even international, headlines. Greater Memphis Chamber president and CEO Ted Townsend can’t change that. But, as he continues to promote Memphis, he sees confirmation that those crimes don’t define the city.
The city’s discussion on what to do about violent crime is different after two high-profile crimes have raised larger questions. The difference is among the topics discussed on “Behind The Headlines.”
As the woman who police think was raped last year by Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer takes her story to a national audience on ‘Good Morning America,’ community leaders are demanding answers about law enforcement’s slow-moving investigation of the 2021 rape.
A new lawsuit against the City of Memphis alleges that MPD officers failed to follow up on leads from a 2021 rape and asserts a proper investigation might have prevented Eliza Fletcher’s death.
Exclusive: A woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Cleotha Henderson, aka Cleotha Abston, the same man accused of killing Eliza Fletcher, says Memphis Police Department didn’t make solving her case a priority. Report poses fresh questions about 2021 Cleotha Henderson rape inquiryRelated story:
As information emerges linking Eliza Fletcher’s alleged killer to a 2021 rape, the rape victim and two retired detectives are questioning what more could have been done to solve the case.
Memphis weeps for the beautiful lives and souls of those cut short by monsters. Yet all of this — all the horrors and the beauty — are a byproduct of the same place. A juxtaposition that is difficult to comprehend.
Memphis Police Department and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office personnel combed the South Memphis park Sunday, then went to an area next to Memphis Boat Center. Suspect in Fletcher abduction was acting ‘very strange’ according to affidavit Vehicle located, one person detained in Fletcher case; family releases statementRelated articles:
It now takes the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation about 49 weeks to test the state’s rape kits, but some lawmakers hope to cut that time to 30 to 60 days.