This man was sentenced to 24 years in prison in 2000 for the same crime but was eligible for release after 85 percent of that sentence was served. If he had serve his full sentence, this lady would still be alive. The justice system has failed us once again.

If your crime has anything to do with kidnapping, rape, or child harm you should never have the chance to get out ever. Period.

This is so upsetting. I have a daughter named Eliza who will be 34 on October 5 and she is also the mother of two boys and a marathon runner. It makes me so angry to think that this beautiful young woman who was probably just doing her normal daily routine and what she loved, was stalked, abducted and then killed by this sick maniac. Her children now without a mother, her husband without his wife. I'm sure she was just trying to live her best life, stay healthy and happy. I tell my Eliza now all the time to train with others when she can, never run alone in the dark, always run in populated areas when you are alone. It is infuriating that my girl or any woman has to feel afraid to just go out, live their life and do what they love. My daughter now carries pepper spray with her when she trains alone. How maddening is that? My heart and condolences to the family.

Abductions should carry a life sentence. Condolences to her children, husband, family and friends. Great work by Law Enforcement!

Should NEVER Have been Paroled in the 1st Damn Place!!!

Before sentencing HIM, judge or authorities who reduced his sentence from 24 years to 20 years should be sentenced. He should be behind bars for the first crime. This is messed up!

How the fuck is bail even an option with kidnapping , more or less murder? The justice system is absolutely fucked

Out on a jog improving her life and her mental wellness, and evil took away this precious person 🙏🏾

That's heartbreaking. RIP to her and condolences to her family.

And just like that, children lost their mom, parents lost a daughter, kids lost their Teacher etc ... Condolences to the family, her friends and all who knew her. 🙏

I was wondering why this wasn't a bigger story than it was. Then I saw pictures of the victim and the murderer, and I realized why.

The man is a monster and a deranged man, certainly a lost soul. Sincere condolences to the family members of the deceased woman.

Hard for words to even express what trauma her family is going through & will for time to come. Our true heart felt sorrow for them. Condolences to family.

This man is an embarrassment to other men. Hold him accountable

I am so sick of every press conference being about patting each other on the back. We want to hear about the case not all the accolades.

May Eliza Sleep In Peace! Imagine you can't even go jogging anymore. Nowhere is safe! This is sheer madness! Ladies, arm yourselves! These animals are ruthless. Look how nonchalant his demeanor is. Life means absolutely nothing to people like that.

Breaks my heart. Life in prison is too short.

She was just living her life & boom, that’s it, her life is over. I was praying that she would be found alive & that she’d be on GMA telling her story in a month. What a senseless tragic loss. Hopefully her family will have enough power to finally make a change against violent offenders. RIP Eliza 🕊I hope we can pass ‘Eliza’s Law’ to save other women/men from the same fate

Sickening. MEMPHIS is the #2 most dangerous city in America!! Jogging alone is taking a big risk.

her class she teaches must be going through just as much as her family,when your a kid people like this are much closer to you

This is so heart breaking. If I am depressed over this, I can just imagine how the family is feeling. Lord have mercy.

I feel so bad for those poor babies. My heart hurts for them losing their momma. God please comfort the family. Hold them close.

Sad. RIP lady. At least they find her body after a few days, some families never even get that. Don't let them take you anywhere, any slim chance of survival is gone when they take you to a second location, fight and die there if you have too. God knows what these creeps want to do to you when they get you alone and isolated.

There’s an 82% chance he’ll be out on bail by Monday!!!

That they would have even considered bail is beyond belief. This criminal should never see the light of day again if sentenced to jail. Since he had 20 years to leard that crime has consequences, he obviously learned nothing and our sysstem's leniency cosst this woman her life!

If I was the husband I'd sue the city for letting this monster out of jail when he already did this the first time. Unbelievable

Stop telling me about what your offices did and how sorry you are… Why can’t we talk like people. Why does it always have to be this stock robotic response. You feel bad? This is horrible? Let’s talk about it. That family lost a wife & mom. What we’re not thinking about is bed time in that house with no mother. Dinner every night with a now empty seat. We’re human beings. It’s okay to actually FEEL sad about this. Press conferences like this are useless.

Thank you to the Memphis PD and others for the strong response in this case.

Just goes to show that these people can’t be rehabilitated.He should never have been let out.

People like this need to serve for their FULL sentence! Why are we letting these people out early? They should then be monitored 24/7 after they are released!

Throw the judge in jail with him that let him out early only to kill this young lady. What a failed broken justice system. Sickening

Tears, thoughts and prayers. This is incredibly heartbreaking... her family, those kids 🙏🏾😢 May she rest peacefully

This is truly horrifying. Sad, and horrifying. And even if convicted he'll get out on parole no doubt while everyone around Eliza has had their lives fair to certainly destroyed. I don't know how I could handle losing my wife, my sister, my daughter in this way.

Oh no... My heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.

Truly heartbreaking for her family. My condolences 💐

CNN: He must have had a good reason

R.I.P. Eliza. My sympathies to all her family and friends during this tragic time.

So very sad! My heart goes out this family, cannot imagine the pain her husband & family are feeling 💕🙏

Man give him the chair! He shouldn’t even get bail.

18 years in prison and what did he learn? Nothing...

This is heartbreaking and painful. Teacher, mom, wife, daughter, sister and by the looks of her pleasant smile the friends of many. As a former competitive distance runner I keep picturing this woman enjoying her run in the zone of her high and all of a sudden horror. Since this guy is a repeat offender and this is a murder following a kidnapping I hope the state goes for the death penalty. Infuriating that, that POS murdered this innocent woman who was simply out on a run.

I am so sorry for her family and I will pray for their comfort and for her quick passage to peace with God. On another note, I hope they sentence him to life, without parole, at hard labor. I hope they show him no mercy during the hearing and his incarceration after. I am a peaceful woman, but I can’t help hoping that he suffers terribly for the rest of his life. I’m not sure I want to know the details. The fact that he killed her violently is enough for me. I wish every case had such a swift response and conclusion. My heart is with her devastated family, especially her children, who will now not have the joy of such a wonderful being in their lives.

Charge him on a racial hate crime just like they do. He is black and she was a beautiful white lady 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼RIP 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Women, please carry a firearm. It's completely legal to carry firearms open or concealed in Tennessee. Please don't end up being a victim

This makes me sick!!!! What a tragedy.

I'm really sad for her and in tears, even though I didn't know her 😥. I was following up with the story and I'm devastated that she is deceased. Two kids, husband and school teacher. WOW

GOD COMFORT AND BLESS THIS FAMILY CONDOLENCES WITH HEART FELT CONCERN.

May Her Soul Rest In Peace! 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿

I really hate these "award show" press conferences.Everyone is slapping each other's backs.The murderer was released early by the justice system.The same one they all work in.

We need the death penalty. We don't need to spend money keeping animals like in jail

This man is a monster, sexually abducted and also killed her. This is so heart breaking. Sincere condolences to the family.

It's a shame so sad God bless her and kids and I hope that monster never gets out of jail this time.

1:35 " _he (suspect) is no strange to jail bars..._ " wow... Speechless! My condolences to her family and friends.

When domesticated animals maul other animals or human beings, their owners are held accountable and they are charged. The people who let this animal out early after the heinous crimes it previously committed 20 years ago should be charged and jailed as well. If it had been kept caged, this never would have happened.

My God! Poor woman spent her last moments in terror, she didn’t deserve that.

So sorry 😞 this is so tragic my condolences to the whole family

Why did the district office allow the kidnapper out of jail?

Note to runners. Take out the stupid air buds or headphones. And if your a female who insists on running at 4am. Maybe carry a knife,pistol, mace,tracking device. It's not safe out there

If he was never let out of jail this would’ve never happened

Always assume a kidnapper plans to kill you. So, fight to the death to prevent going with him. Too bad the death penalty takes so long.

This is heartbreaking. I hope justice will be served. I am praying for the family.

Very sad and tragic story. Condolences to her family.May the suspect suffer forever.

It makes me so angry knowing that he was violent and murderer since at a young age and sentenced to 22 years but got to release because of this new stupid law. If you find out why he got released, you would be mad, too. I promise.

Just horrible beyond words what this man did. He should never have been let out of jail, period.

is it just me or does law enforcement spend too much time patting themselves on the back?

So heartbreaking that women can’t even go for a run by themselves anymore. 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢

Is she not the right color to call this a hate crime.

If she was black they wouldn’t have put her on the news smh

Sending prayers to all the family members to this poor family.

Two children now without a mother

My condolences to her family, such an unnecessary act of cowardice! This is why citizens need to be aware of their surroundings and have the ability to protect themselves!

It's really a tragedy as was said here. You can't simply go out jogging without some crazy deranged individual out there wanting to bring harm to you and in this case death. Our children can't play outside for fear of these creeps. It's so sad.

So sad, but so sadly expected. I hope that the family gets their justice for what this monster has done to this innocent woman

Once they get you in the car, the outcome is never good. This heartbreaking!!

To do something so senseless and brutal to another person is just demonic. So sad for this family and all who knew her. She had such a big, bright smile and looks like a very kind woman. She didn't deserve this and neither did her loved ones. So sorry for her children who will never grow up having her there. Condolences to her family and friends, and may the outpouring of love from others help heal their hearts from her tragic loss.

Heartbreaking....no words can express this tragedy and senseless crime against a beautiful soul...may God comfort the family, especially her children. 🙏😔

This is a horrible man who likely came from a home that lacked the resources to adequately support him as a child. Abuse and neglect as a child leads to to violent crimes. Making abortion illegal for single moms in states that don’t provide much help will lead to a higher violent crime rate like in the 70’s and 80’s.

Damn I was really hoping they would find her alive 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 RIP ELIZA! So sad. Ladies let this be a lesson! DO NOT GO OUT JOGGING BY YOURSELF!

So So sad my heart hurts over this and so much that is happening in this world today. We must keep praying and looking forward to ours Heavenly Father to end all this hurt that we are all going through. 🙏 ❤️.

Disgusting. Just when you think that things couldn't get any worse. It was bad enough to hear about this woman being abducted but now we hear that she's been found dead. Feel for her family, friends and loved ones.

never go jogging unarmed

Murdered woman aside, would it have been cheaper to keep the accused in prison after 2020 rather than let him roam free to kidnap and now murder? This type of criminal does NOT change after 20 years of incarceration-who decided this was a good idea with safe outcomes? Unless the US prison system adapts a Swedish prison model, we are not safe. I worked in a State prison in CA and there are prisoners who should NEVER be free to roam the streets.

In the good old days this kidnapper would already be smoking in "Old Sparky"...but unfortunately we are far removed from those times..that's what's wrong with this country!!!

Such a loss of someone so young with so much to live for. May God hold her family and friends in His embrace during this most difficult time.

That man is evil as hell!!!

They need to monitor these dangerous criminals for five years after they serve their sentence. I would be fine if you took Tennessee police off of petty marijuana cases and traffic charges and put them on criminal and sex offender casing, doing rotating shifts. In fact, legalize the harmless drug completely and concentrate on real crime. Karen calls should also be relegated to low priority.

A Pillar of the Community, mother, wife, teacher, taken out by a Worthless Waste of Space. For what????

My condolences to the family.

If this would’ve been a black girl and a white man did the crime, all hell would’ve broke out…

I’m so very sorry that the evil this world holds has invaded this family. A news story has never touched me so foundly as this one has. I am truly so very sorry for their lose.

This should be considered a hate crime on top of his current charges

Eliza “Liza” Wellford Fletcher, 34, went home to her Savior on September 2, 2022. She was born on November 9, 1987 in Memphis, TN, to adoring parents, Adele Orgill Wellford and James Beasley Wellford. Following graduation from the Hutchison School in 2006, Liza played soccer for the University of Memphis and later completed her undergraduate education at Baylor University. She received a Master’s Degree in Teaching from Belmont University. She devoted her work and boundless childlike energy to her students at Promise Academy and later her Junior Kindergarten students at St. Mary’s Episcopal School. As with everything Liza took on, she nurtured and cared for her students with her whole heart. A strong believer in the importance of personal growth, she was not afraid to be vulnerable. To the contrary, she embraced it. A born athlete, Liza’s passion for sports extended from childhood teams to collegiate competition to excellence in marathons in adulthood. She found great joy in her morning runs with friends. She channeled her competitive nature into enthusiastic participation in all that she undertook. She truly walked and modeled the Christian life and trusted in her unwavering faith. Liza was a light to all who knew her. Her contagious smile and laughter could brighten any room. Liza was pure of heart and innocent in ways that made her see the very best in everyone she met. To know her was to love her and to be loved by her. Her impact is extraordinary, as is witnessed in the prayer groups, vigils held at the homes of friends and family, church and school gatherings, and memorial runs and walks held in her honor. The outpouring of love and grief would have surprised Liza, who never thought or acted as if she were something special - though she certainly was. Above all else, Liza’s most cherished role was that of wife and mother. After meeting at Second Presbyterian Church, she married her beloved husband, Richard James Fletcher III, on March 8, 2014, and they later welcomed their two rambunctious, joyful boys Richard James Fletcher IV and Harry Wellford Fletcher. She loved her family fiercely and unconditionally. Together as a family, they enjoyed outdoor adventures including boating, water sports, hiking, running, and biking. She was deeply admired by her family and friends for her passionate dedication to motherhood. In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by her parents, her brother, Gil Wellford, her grandmother, Irene Orgill, her father-in-law, Richard James Fletcher, Jr., and her sister-in-law, Annie Fletcher. She is predeceased by her grandparents, Katherine and Harry Wellford, her grandfather, Joe Orgill, and her mother-in-law, Diane Fletcher. Liza also leaves many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who love and miss her dearly. Funeral services will be held at Second Presbyterian Church at 10:00am on Saturday, September 10. The family requests that memorials be made to the Liza Wellford Fletcher Memorial Fund at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Christ Methodist Day School, and Second Presbyterian Church. “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold in me a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:12

Truly very Sad news today,Praying for her family and friends 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Just no words. My prayers for her family.

Put him under the jail please. He doesn’t deserve light at all.

Yes. Heartbreaking. All my love to the family and friends of the victim. It's hard to understand what goes on with a human brain that compulsively does this to another human being. Please figure this out. It's become more, and more evident that there are a multitude of people that thinks it's ok to harm others.

Never get in the car, fight as hard as you can

If he is offered a plea bargain then the lawyers have blood on their hands. This guy has escalated and will continue to do so.

The man WHO did this .SHOULD have never been RELEASED.

This story that needs to be discussed more than anything will be shoved under the rug