TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Sep 18, 2023

Cleotha Abston-Henderson is slated to have the first of his criminal cases go to trial in early 2024, Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee V. Coffee said Friday. The first trial will center on allegations that he raped Alicia Franklin in 2021. He has been charged with aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping and unlawful possession of a firearm as a convicted felon in that case, the Commercial Appeal reports. After disposition of that case, Abston-Henderson will stand trial for allegedly kidnapping and killing Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher in September 2022. The Fletcher case, Coffee said, should be tried by the end of 2024. Shelby County Deputy District Attorney Paul Hagerman said the Franklin case was set earlier given that the alleged offense took place almost a year before the Fletcher case.