A trial date has been set for a man accused of kidnapping and murdering a Memphis teacher

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge set a trial date Monday for a man accused of kidnapping and murdering a teacher during a morning jog in Memphis, Tennessee.

Shelby County Judge Lee Coffee set the trial of Cleotha Abston for Feb. 10 on first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and other charges, court records show. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Abston is convicted of first-degree murder.

Abston, 40, has pleaded not guilty. Eliza Fletcher was grabbed in the street while jogging before dawn near the University of Memphis on Sept. 2, 2022, and dragged into an SUV. Her body was found days later near a vacant duplex.

“We will be ready for trial,” Abston’s lawyer Juni Ganguli said in a text message.

Abston was sentenced to 80 years in prison on May 17 for raping a woman a year before being charged in Fletcher’s death. In April, he was found guilty of raping and holding the woman at gunpoint in September 2021.

Abston, whose criminal record dates back to the 1990s when he was a minor, received 40 years in prison for aggravated rape, 20 years for aggravated kidnapping and an additional 20 years for illegal possession of a firearm. The sentences will be served consecutively or consecutively.

Ganguli said Abston had appealed the rape conviction.

“I don’t believe for a second that he raped the woman or kidnapped her or that he had a gun or pointed a gun at her,” Ganguli told reporters after the verdict was announced.

According to authorities, Abston had not been arrested on the rape charges before Fletcher’s murder because of long delays in processing the sex offender tool.

After Fletcher’s death, lawmakers passed a law requiring the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to issue a quarterly report on sex offender kit testing times.

The murder of Fletcher, a 34-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of two, shocked the Memphis community and sparked an outpouring of support for her family. A week after her abduction, runners in Memphis and several other cities held early morning runs in her honor. A second run was held last year in Fletcher’s honor.

Abston, who also goes by Cleotha Henderson, was arrested after police discovered his DNA on sandals found near where Fletcher was last seen, an affidavit said. An autopsy report found Fletcher died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.