A sexual assault victim is speaking out after her rape kit stayed on investigators’ shelves for several months until after the man now accused of raping her was identified as the suspect in the killing of a wealthy, white woman.
Alicia Franklin, a Black woman, left Memphis last year after she was blindfolded and raped by a man she met on a dating app. The 22-year-old takes online college classes hoping to propel herself out of poverty.
The same man was charged with Eliza Fletcher’s abduction and murder nearly a year later. Fletcher’s grandfather founded a billionaire dollar hardware company. DNA from her crime scene was tested in a matter of hours, reports show.
“I was just an average Black girl in the city of Memphis, you know,” Franklin told reporters. “I just think it wasn’t a priority.”
It took 18 hours for Memphis police to solve Fletcher’s murder. It took over 11 months for police to identify Franklin’s rapist and only after Fletcher’s death. The man identified for both crimes was no stranger to law enforcement.
Fletcher’s husband reported her missing on Sept. 2 after she hadn’t returned from her daily run near the University of Memphis. Reports show investigators removed video surveillance of Fletcher’s kidnapping within hours. Cleotha Abston-Henderson was arrested the next day.
Abston-Henderson’s DNA was found on sandals near the crime scene, and he was seen wearing them on surveillance footage. Cellphone data also placed him in the vicinity of the crime.
Fletcher’s body was discovered behind Abston-Henderson’s brother’s apartment complex, where the suspect had been spotted cleaning the victim’s SUV. Her story flooded national headlines. Thousands signed up to “Finish Eliza’s Run,” a tribute to the slain woman and a rallying cry for woman’s rights.
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