A Tennessee man who is accused of raping a woman and later charged with kidnapping and killing a schoolteacher will have his fate decided by a Memphis-area jury in the sexual assault case. Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee recently denied a change of venue motion filed by Juni Ganguli, the lawyer for Cleotha Abston, stating that Abston can receive a fair trial from Shelby County jurors despite intense media publicity surrounding the cases.
Ganguli argued that Abston would not receive a fair trial due to the extensive media coverage surrounding the rape in 2021 and the subsequent killing of Eliza Fletcher in 2022. However, Judge Coffee disagreed and scheduled an April 8 trial for Abston on the charges of kidnapping and raping a woman in September 2021.
Abston, who has pleaded not guilty in both cases, is accused of snatching Fletcher from a street near the University of Memphis and forcing her into an SUV on September 2, 2022. Her body was found days later near a vacant duplex. Prosecutors plan to pursue the death penalty if Abston is convicted of first-degree murder in Fletcher’s death, but no trial date has been set for that case.
It is worth noting that Abston was not arrested on the rape charges before Fletcher’s killing due to a delay in processing the sexual assault kit. This delay has brought attention to the need for more efficient handling of such cases, leading to the passage of a law requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue quarterly reports on sexual assault kit testing times.
Despite the high-profile nature of the case and media attention, Judge Coffee referenced the 2022 murder trial of former NBA player Lorenzen Wright, which also received significant media coverage but used a local jury. Coffee believes Abston can receive a fair trial with a Shelby County jury.
The killing of Eliza Fletcher, a beloved 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two, deeply impacted the Memphis community and garnered widespread support for her family. In her honor, runners in Memphis and other cities participated in early-morning running events, and a second run was held last year.
As the April rape trial approaches, the Memphis community and the nation will be watching closely as justice is sought for both the victim and the accused.
