Gruesome autopsy report for Eliza Fletcher revealed, Memphis teacher's cause of death was a homicide



The gruesome autopsy report for Eliza Fletcher – the Memphis mother of two who police said was kidnapped and murdered – was released on Thursday. The autopsy report confirmed that the Tennessee kindergarten teacher's cause of death was a homicide.

Surveillance video revealed that the kidnapping of Fletcher was "violent," as she was forced into a GMC Terrain SUV while she was on a pre-dawn jog near the University of Memphis campus on Sept. 2.

"As the abduction was violent with, as captured on video, the suspect waiting for, then rushing toward the victim, then forcing the victim into the vehicle, where she was confined and removed and continues to be missing, it is believed and supported by the facts and physical evidence that she suffered serious injury," police said. "Further, it is probable and apparent from witness statements that these injuries left evidence, e.g. blood, in the vehicle that the defendant cleaned."

Fletcher's dead body was found on Sept. 5 at a vacant home roughly seven miles from the abduction site.

The autopsy report found that Fletcher had a gunshot wound in the back of the head. The autopsy report revealed that a single shell casing was recovered from the area where Fletcher was found.

The Christian kindergarten teacher also suffered from blunt-force injuries to her right leg and jaw fractures, according to an autopsy completed by forensic pathologist Danielle Harrell, D.O., at the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center in Memphis.

"There are two semicircular defects to the skull consistent with a single gunshot to the head with the bullet traveling in a posterior to anterior (back to front) and right to left direction," the report stated.

Cleotha Henderson – who also goes by the name Cleotha Abston – has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree murder in perpetration of kidnappings, especially aggravated kidnapping, and tampering with evidence in the case. The 38-year-old suspect has yet to enter a plea.

The Memphis Police Department said they found Henderson's DNA on a pair of sandals at the crime scene.

Surveillance video allegedly shows Henderson cleaning the SUV for more than an hour after the suspected kidnapping of the St. Mary’s Episcopal School teacher.

Henderson's brother reportedly told police that he witnessed his brother "washing his clothes in the sink of the house" and "acting very strange" after Fletcher went missing.

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Memphis man charged with murdering Eliza Fletcher hit with new charges of abducting and raping another woman last year



The man charged with murdering Eliza Fletcher is now facing additional charges of kidnapping and rape from a separate incident.

Cleotha Henderson AKA Cleotha Abston – the 38-year-old suspect in the murder of the Memphis mother of two – was hit with new charges of kidnapping and raping another woman at gunpoint.

Court documents show that Henderson was indicted on charges of aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping, and an additional gun charge in connection to an alleged crime committed nearly exactly a year ago.

On the same day that Fletcher's body was found behind an abandoned house in South Memphis, a DNA match reportedly pinned Henderson to a rape case from Sept. 21, 2021, according to WREG. The Memphis Police Department sent the sexual assault kit to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation two days after it was taken.

"Henderson's kit was one of 316 submitted to TBI from all Shelby County law enforcement agencies, which was the most of any county in Tennessee. Knox County was in second with 168 kits," according to the Memphis newspaper The Commercial Appeal.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it took nearly a year to test the rape kit because it was not submitted by the Memphis police as a "rush case." The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the typical turnaround time for DNA tests is 33 to 49 weeks.

The TBI noted that Fletcher's case was expedited as a rush case, and linked DNA from a sandal left at the crime scene with Henderson.

"Our scientists identified Cleotha Abston as the suspect less than 18 hours after receiving key evidence," the TBI said.

Henderson is facing first-degree murder and especially aggravated kidnapping charges in connection with the death of Eliza Fletcher.

Fletcher was a teacher and 34-year-old mother of two who disappeared during an early morning job in Memphis on Sept. 2. Fletcher's body was found near an abandoned house on Monday.

Henderson is currently being held in the Shelby County Jail without bond.

Henderson has a lengthy criminal record.

Henderson was released from prison early after serving 20 years of a 24-year sentence for an armed kidnapping of Memphis attorney Kemper Durand that he committed when he was 16 years old.

"The suspect was 16 at the time, and already had been charged as a juvenile five times for aggravated assault and was found responsible for another rape case when he was just 14," Fox News reported.

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