Sen. Blackburn: Eliza Fletcher ‘Would Be Alive’ If Suspect Was Jailed for Prior Rape

Eliza Fletcher, a mother of two and a kindergarten teacher, “would be alive today” if her accused killer had been jailed for a prior rape he allegedly committed, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Wednesday.

Fletcher, 34, was jogging near her home on the University of Memphis campus on Sept. 2 during the early morning hours when she was abducted, forced into an SUV, and murdered.

Cleotha Abston, a 38-year-old career criminal who spent decades behind bars for kidnapping and also appeared in court for prior rape cases, was arrested several days later in connection to Fletcher’s murder. He was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals after investigators found his DNA on a pair of sandals recovered near where Fletcher was last seen, according to an arrest affidavit.

Blackburn said on Sept. 14 that Fletcher wouldn’t have been murdered if officials hadn’t taken a year to process a rape kit backlog from Abston’s alleged victim in a suspected rape incident that happened in September 2021.

“Tragically, the rape kit was returned the same day that Fletcher’s body was discovered with DNA allegedly matching that of Fletcher’s killer,” the senator told a press briefing on Wednesday. “Had it not taken so long, Eliza Fletcher would be alive today and her killer would be behind bars.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) speaks during a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting to vote on Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Capitol Hill in Washington, on April 4, 2022. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images).

Blackburn made the remark while hosting a news conference where a number of Republican senators called out Democrats’ “pro-crime policies,” while also accusing “the radical left” of using soft-on-crime policies to embolden criminals who are making American cities and suburbs less safe.

In a Sept. 14 letter (pdf) to President Joe Biden, Sen. Bill

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