A Black woman who accused detectives of ignoring her rape case until after heiress Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped and killed by the man accused in both cases has taken legal action against the city of Memphis.
Alicia Franklin filed a lawsuit against the city a year to the date after she allegedly was held at gunpoint and sexually assaulted by Cleotha Abston-Henderson. He was arrested on Sept. 9 after the Memphis Police Department linked his DNA to Franklin’s case days after booking the man for the Fletcher killing.
However, Franklin and her attorneys argued that investigators had Abston-Henderson’s DNA file over a decade before the white granddaughter of a billionaire’s deadly kidnapping last month. Franklin believes the difference between the women’s race and social status played a role in the outcome.
“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.”
The complaint alleges that Franklin “sustained physical and emotional injuries, which required, and continue to require medical and mental health care attention.” It also alleges that the police department did not honor Franklin’s courage to report her rape, an effort many claim would have preempted the other woman’s subsequent death. Police also failed to “take reasonable steps to apprehend her assailant causing her additional emotional distress,” and now she is seeking compensation.
Franklin gave the details of her rape to Memphis police investigators the same night it occurred on Sept. 21, 2021. She took them to the scene and provided them with the man’s first name, his telephone number, a description of his car and social media information. Franklin had met the man she knew only as “Cleo” on a dating app, PlentyOfFish, she told detectives.
