Judge Refuses Venue Change In Cleotha Henderson Rape Case

Image Credit: Tennessee Department of Corrections & Luca Sartoni / CC

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

A Shelby County judge decided that a man accused of rape and murder will stand trial for those charges in a Shelby County court.

Judge Lee Coffee is presiding over the case in which Cleotha Henderson is accused of kidnapping and raping Alicia Franklin in 2021. He is set to go to trial in April.

Henderson is also facing murder charges in the 2022 kidnapping and death of Memphis school teacher Eliza Fletcher.

Last November, Henderson’s attorneys requested that the trial be moved to Davidson County.

At that time, they also stated that they would most likely make a motion to have the Fletcher case moved to another county.

Coffee noted at that time that he did not feel it was in Henderson’s best interest to move the case. His lawyers, however, disagreed.

Defense attorney Juni Ganguli noted the extensive coverage of the case in local media outlets, as well as what he called “toxic” comments made on social media regarding the case and his client.

Now that the judge has made a decision on the location of the trial, a date is expected soon for the Fletcher murder trial.

Coffee previously stated that he was committed to completing that trial by the end of the year.