Man accused in jogger’s death faces charges in earlier case

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The man charged with abducting and killing a Tennessee teacher this month was a suspect in a 2021 kidnapping and sexual case, but his indictment over those allegations didn’t occur until Thursday because of the timing in testing his DNA.

Cleotha Henderson was rebooked at the Shelby County Jail on Friday on charges of aggravated rape, especially aggravated kidnapping and unlawful carrying of a weapon. Details of the newest allegations against Henderson were not yet available.

The indictment came days after Henderson’s arrest in the death of Eliza Fletcher, a mother of two and a kindergarten teacher.

Fletcher disappeared while on a pre-dawn run near the University of Memphis campus on Sept. 2, and her remains were found Monday near an abandoned house. Henderson is being held in the Shelby County Jail without bond on the charges related to Fletcher’s death.

In the earlier case, Memphis police took a sexual assault report on Sept. 21, 2021, the department said in a statement Saturday. A sexual assault kit was submitted two days later to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the statement said.

“An official CODIS (national DNA database) hit was not received until after the unfortunate event that occurred on September 2, 2022,” the Memphis police statement said.