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“To lose someone so young and so vital is a tragedy in and of itself, but to have it happen in this way, with a senseless act of violence, it’s unimaginable,” Mulroy, offering his condolences to Fletcher’s family, said in a Tuesday news conference.
“We have no reason to think this was anything other than an isolated attack by a stranger,” Mulroy said.
It is too early to determine the “place and method of death,” Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn Davis at the same news conference.
Suspect appears in court on kidnapping charges
Abston was arraigned Tuesday morning in a Memphis courtroom on charges filed against him before Fletcher’s body was identified: aggravated kidnapping and tampering with evidence.
Wearing prison garb and a mask over his mouth, he spoke only to respond to a judge’s questions, and said he does not have an attorney or funds to post bond.
Shelby County Judge Louis J. Montesi Jr. appointed a public defender to represent Abston.
Five of Fletcher’s relatives were in the courtroom. Before the hearing started, Montesi asked them to refrain from having any outburst or emotional reaction during the arraignment.
Abston was being held in county jail Tuesday on the initial charges with bond set at $510,000. He will be arraigned Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder, premeditated murder and murder in the course of the perpetration of of a kidnapping, Mulroy, the district attorney, said Tuesday.
Abston served a prison sentence for an aggravated kidnapping more than 20 years ago, court records show.
The evidence in the case
Fletcher’s husband told police Friday morning that she’d not returned from her early morning jog, authorities said in an affidavit filed Sunday.
Someone found her phone in the street on Central Avenue that morning, and it was given to one of Fletcher’s relatives, who gave it to investigators, the affidavit reads.
Police then found surveillance video of the area, which shows a black GMC Terrain pass by her, according to the affidavit. A man is seen in the footage getting out of the SUV and “aggressively” running toward her before forcing her into the vehicle’s passenger seat, according to the affidavit.
The SUV remained in a parking lot for about four minutes after both people were inside and then drove away, the affidavit states.
Police also analyzed a pair of sandals that were found at the abduction site, near the victim’s phone. DNA found on the shoes matched DNA for Abston, the affidavit reads.
Surveillance footage captured from a local theater the day before Fletcher’s disappearance showed Abston wearing what authorities believe are the same pair of Champion slide sandals found at the crime scene, according to the affidavit.
Researching Abston’s residence, police found that he lived at a home whose utilities were registered in the name of a woman who owned a GMC Terrain, the court document reads.
Investigators then interviewed Abston’s employer, who said he drove a GMC Terrain and verified his phone number. Investigators checked Abston’s cell phone records, which showed he was near the abduction scene during the time of Fletcher’s kidnapping, according to the affidavit.
Members of a US Marshals task force found a GMC Terrain near Abston’s residence on Saturday morning, and it had the same distinguishable damage and partial license plate information seen in the surveillance footage from Fletcher’s abduction, the affidavit reads.
The task force saw him standing in the doorway of the home, and detained him Saturday, the court document said.
Police also gathered details from witnesses who said they encountered Abston after the abduction.
One witness said she saw Abston at his brother’s Memphis home after the kidnapping, according to the affidavit. The witness and Abston’s brother said Abston was behaving oddly as he cleaned the interior of his SUV and washed his clothes in the sink, the affidavit said.
Police have not said what led them to vacant duplex where Fletcher’s body was found.
That duplex was in the 1600 block of Victor Street, the police chief said. That’s about a half-mile drive from the address that authorities gave for his brother’s home, a 7.5-mile drive from the alleged abduction site and about a 15.5-mile drive from his own home.
Memphis school community ‘heartbroken at the loss’
“This morning our faculty and staff started the day in chapel. We lit candles to remember Liza who was a bright light in our community,” a Facebook post from St. Mary’s Episcopal School reads.
“Liza embodied the song that we sing every week in Early Childhood chapel, ‘This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine,'” the post reads.
“We continue to draw strength from our all-school read, ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’ by Charlie Mackesy. ‘We don’t know about tomorrow,’ said the horse, ‘all we need to know is that we love each other,'” the post reads.
Abston served sentence in previous kidnapping case
Following Abston’s arrest Saturday, charges unrelated to Fletcher’s kidnapping also were filed against him.
The charges include identity theft, theft of property $1,000 or less and fraudulent use/illegal possession of a credit or debit card $1,000 or less, Shelby County jail records show.
Those charges are connected to a Thursday theft report filed by a woman who reported someone was using her Cash App card and Wisely Card at gas stations without her knowledge.
CNN has reached out to the Shelby County district attorney and Memphis police regarding the charges in the Thursday theft report.
Court records also reveal that Abston previously served a prison sentenced for an aggravated kidnapping more than 20 years ago.
In November 2001, Abston pleaded guilty to the charge and was released in November 2020, court records show.
CNN’s Anne Clifford, Jamiel Lynch, Tina Burnside, Hannah Sarisohn and Jennifer Feldman contributed to this report.
