The suspect arrested in the case, 38-year-old Cleotha Abston, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in connection with the kidnapping, police said. Memphis Police Chief Sherlyn Davis told reporters that others may be charged in the case, but as of Tuesday morning no one else had been. Davis said it was too early for investigators to determine how and where Fletcher died. Abston has not provided much information to investigators, Davis said. Stephen Mulroy, the district attorney for Shelby County, which includes Memphis, said Abston will be arraigned on the murder charges on Wednesday. “We have no reason to believe this was anything other than an isolated attack by an unknown person,” Mulroy told reporters. Abston appeared before a judge earlier Tuesday on charges of kidnapping, tampering with evidence, theft, identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card. Fletcher’s relatives and more than 20 members of the media were in the courtroom. Abston was issued a $510,000 bond. Abston said he could not afford bond and could not afford a lawyer. General Sessions Judge Louis Montesi appointed a public defender to represent Abston. U.S. Marshals arrested Abston on Saturday after police traced his DNA to a pair of sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen, according to an arrest affidavit. Police also linked the vehicle they believe was used in the kidnapping to a person at a home where Abston lived. Late Monday, police tweeted that a body had been found, but the person’s identity and cause of death have not been confirmed. A heavy police presence was reported in the area where authorities said they found the body shortly after 5 p.m. Memphis police had searched various locations with dogs, ATVs and a helicopter throughout the Labor Day weekend. Fletcher, a school teacher, is the granddaughter of the late Joseph Orgill III, a Memphis hardware entrepreneur and philanthropist. The family offered a $50,000 reward for information about the case. In a statement Tuesday, the family said they were “grateful beyond measure” to authorities for finding Fletcher and arresting a suspect. “We are devastated and devastated by this senseless loss,” the family said. “Lisa was such a joy to so many… Now is the time to remember and celebrate how special she was and to support those who cared so much about her.” Abston previously kidnapped a prominent Memphis attorney in 2000, the Commercial Appeal reported. When he was just 16, Abston forced Kemper Durand into the trunk of his car at gunpoint. After several hours, Abston took Durand out and forced him to drive to a Mapco gas station to withdraw money from an ATM. At the station, an armed Memphis Housing Authority guard walked in and Durant yelled for help. Abston fled but was found and arrested. He pleaded guilty in 2001 to aggravated kidnapping and aggravated robbery, according to court records. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Durant, in a victim impact statement, wrote: “I was extremely lucky to be able to escape Cleotha Abston’s custody… It is very likely that I would have been killed if I had not escaped,” the Commercial Appeal reported. Durant died in 2013, seven years before Abston was released from prison in November 2020 at the age of 36. In the two years since his release, there were no other documented charges against Abston in Shelby County before his arrest Saturday, the Commercial Appeal reported. During Tuesday morning’s press conference, Mulroy appeared to refer to Abston’s criminal history, saying: “Any kind of violence, of course, is unacceptable, but repeat violent offenders especially deserve a strong response, and that’s what they’re going to get from this prosecutor. office.”
