MPD was given Cleotha Henderson's name and still did not pursue him, lawsuit says
A witness gave the Memphis Police Department Cleotha Henderson's full name during their investigation of a 2021 rape allegation and investigators did not make an attempt to pursue Henderson as a suspect, according to new court filings.
The filing is an updated version of the lawsuit filed about two weeks ago against the City of Memphis by Alicia Franklin, a woman who said she was raped by Henderson a year before he was charged with the abduction and killing of Eliza Fletcher.
After the incident, the lawsuit alleges MPD investigators spoke to the tenant of another apartment near the one Franklin said she was attacked in. The woman, who is not being named since she has not been charged with a crime, was Henderson's girlfriend.
Henderson is sometimes referred to as "Cleotha Abston" in the court filing, a last name he requested not be used in his current cases. Previous versions of the lawsuit allege MPD did not do their due diligence, given that Franklin said she told police his name was "Cleo," a nickname.
In addition, Henderson's girlfriend was said to own a 2015 black GMC Terrain and a white Dodge Charger. The lawsuit says Henderson drove away from the scene of the attack in a white Charger, and Henderson is alleged to have been driving the black Terrain when Fletcher disappeared.
"She [the girlfriend] told police that she had two vehicles, a 2015 black GMC Terrain and a white Dodge Charger, and that Abston had permission to drive both vehicles," the lawsuit said. "Abston's girlfriend gave MPD officers Abston's full name. Even with this information, Memphis police did not pursue Cleotha Abston as a suspect. Sometime later, Cleotha Abston's girlfriend contacted police again to advise that Cleotha Abston had moved to his brother's place at...South Orleans Street. She told police they had broken up, but Abston still had use of the vehicles."
It is not clear if the GMC Terrain his girlfriend owned in 2021 and the Terrain used in the Fletcher's abduction are the same. In the arrest affidavit issued in Fletcher's abduction, police noted that Henderson was driving a 2013 GMC Terrain.
The city has not filed a response to Franklin's lawsuit.
Franklin's case came into the public sphere after Henderson was indicted for the September 2021 rape. A rape kit was taken and sent off to TBI and, since it did not have a rush order on it, was not tested until late June 2022. Those results came back in late August and a CODIS hit was returned September 5, after Henderson was already arrested in connection to Fletcher's killing.
CODIS is a nationwide database that allows agencies to run DNA through it to see if someone involved in a previous crime is connected to a current one.
Fletcher was abducted in the early morning hours of September 2 while jogging, setting off a massive search that included multiple law enforcement agencies, including local, to state, to federal officials. Henderson was arrested before her body was found and has since been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping.
Henderson also faces rape and aggravating kidnapping charges in connection to the 2021 rape. Incident reports obtained by The Commercial Appeal also showed Henderson was a suspect in four different incident reports, including one where he was detained and charged with a misdemeanor. He is also facing fraud and theft charges relating to an incident that occurred the day before Fletcher was abducted.
If convicted, he faces the possibility of life in prison as he is considered a repeat violent offender. In 2000, he was convicted in the kidnapping of Memphis lawyer Kemper Durand. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison and was released in 2020.
Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Lawsuit alleges MPD had Henderson's name and did not pursue in rape case
