After Eliza Fletcher's abduction while out for her morning run, a community of women runners bound together to organize runs in Fletcher's honor.

An accomplished runner in her own right, earning a Boston Marathon qualifier in 2019, Fletcher was earlier known to the University of Memphis community for her time on the women's soccer team.

It's not uncommon for soccer players to transition into distance running. After all, soccer boils down to about 90 minutes of continuous running. But U of M Women's Soccer Head Coach Brook Monaghan remembers Fletcher for traits outside of her athleticism.

"Her attitude was infectious," he wrote in an open letter posted to Twitter on Thursday. "She always looked at things as the glass being half-full, not half-empty."

Fletcher played from 2006 until 2007, which featured the team winning a Conference USA title in her second year. Monaghan said even as an underclassman, she gave her full effort, and more, to the team.

"The 2007 team was a team in the making," he said. "I remember the year before, when Liza was a freshman, I said, 'This group will win a championship.' And sure enough, they did it the next year just because of people like Liza. The kind of kids willing to put their head down, trust in the system, and work. I can't say that 2007 team was our most talented team, but it was one of the most hard-working teams I've ever coached.

The open letter came a couple hours after Cleotha Abston-Henderson, the man charged in Fletcher's abduction and kidnapping, appeared in court for the third time this week. He will continue to be held without bond after his third court appearance Thursday.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, who took office one week ago, told reporters Wednesday the appearance was to be a continued arraignment for first-degree murder, which was added Tuesday after investigators found a body and identified it as Fletcher.

But, Judge Louis Montesi told the court Thursday Abston-Henderson was already arraigned and the hearing was for a ruling on a motion filed by the defense.

That motion, which was previously sealed while Montesi made his decision, came from Jennifer "Jenny" Case, the supervisor for major cases in the Shelby County Public Defender's Office. Case had asked Montesi to make a judgement as to whether or not "any impropriety" was apparent in the office representing Abston-Henderson.

The motion does not indicate Case plans to not represent Abston-Henderson, but was filed out of an abundance of caution since he was represented by a public defender in his 2000 trial, where he was convicted of kidnapping Memphis lawyer Kemper Durand.

Abston-Henderson is presently charged with especially aggravated kidnapping, tampering with evidence, and first-degree murder in connection with the abduction and subsequent death of Fletcher. Fletcher, 34, was a mother of two and a teacher at St. Mary's Episcopal Church. 

Case also moved to reaffirm the court's ethics in extrajudicial comments, citing Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn "CJ" Davis' remarks Tuesday when she called Abston-Henderson a "dangerous predator." Montesi said he would sign a motion once Case had presented him with it.

Abston-Henderson has also indicated to the court that his last name should be "Henderson," not "Abston," although the Commercial Appeal referred to him as "Abston-Henderson" for clarity here. He will be referred to as "Henderson" in future articles.

Abston-Henderson will next appear in court September 19 and will continue to be held without bond.

His Thursday appearance followed Wednesday's spree shooting that resulted in one arrest. Mulroy, who was sworn into office August 31, said he had planned to hit the ground running, but did not expect to immediately be met by cases of this magnitude.

"My intent was to hit the ground running, but I wasn't expecting this," he told a Commercial Appeal reporter after a press conference. "The phrase 'baptism by fire' has been thrown at me a lot and I think it's probably appropriate. Obviously, there's no right time for tragedies like what we've had this last week, and my main focus has to be on the victims. But...this has been one heck of a first week on the job."

"You know, I was telling people last night I was think about asking the election commission if it was too late for a recount," Mulroy added in jest.

Fletcher's funeral will be Saturday at 10 a.m., hosted in Second Presbyterian Church. According to the obituary, the family is requesting "all memorials be made to the Liza Wellford Fletcher Memorial Fund at St. Mary's Episcopal School, Christ Methodist Day School, and Second Presbyterian Church."

Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @LucasFinton.