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Shelby County, Tenn., District Attorney Steve Mulroy on Wednesday acknowledged inaccurately suggesting that Cleotha Henderson, the man charged with killing Memphis mom Eliza Fletcher, had been freed from prison on parole.
Mulroy tweeted, "This AM in an interview I erroneously reported that Cleo Abston/Henderson, defendant in the Liza Fletcher case, was paroled from his prior kidnapping charge; he was released early from his original 24-year sentence, but not due to action by the Parole Board. I regret the error."
Mulroy had made the original comments to Fox News, adding that had Henderson served his full sentence, "this particular crime would not have occurred."
Henderson, whose rap sheet showed a long history of violence, served about 20 years of a 24-year sentence for the May 2000 abduction and robbery of the attorney Kemper Durand.
Cleotha Henderson appearing at his arraignment on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Memphis. He has been charged with kidnapping and murdering jogger Eliza Fletcher. (Mark Weber/Daily Memphian via AP)
Henderson's sentencing documents noted that the court ordered him to serve "100%" of his sentence due to his violent criminal past under the Sentence Reform Act of 1989. Henderson later received a 512-day credit for time served, court documents showed, and then likely saw some additional time shaved off with other credit incentives, authorities said on background.
The Department of Correction did not respond to multiple requests for comment or emailed questions about specific details that led to Henderson's release. According to the state's website, early sentence-reduction credits "are earned by demonstrating acceptable behavior and participating in work or educational programming."
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Henderson is charged with first-degree murder, especially aggravated assault and tampering with/fabricating evidence under Tennessee law.
"We would not be bringing these first-degree murder charges unless we were confident that we could prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt," Mulroy shared.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.