Cleotha Abston, the man charged with killing Memphis mom Eliza Fletcher, has long history of violence, serving about 20 years of a 24-year sentence for kidnapping another victim at gunpoint.
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy joined "America's Newsroom" Wednesday to discuss public details of the case and the nature of Abston's criminal record.
"If he was serving his full sentence, we don't know what would have happened after that," Mulroy told hosts Dana Perino and Bill Hemmer. "But clearly, this particular crime would not have occurred."
ELIZA FLETCHER KIDNAPPING, MURDER SUSPECT CLEOTHA ABSTON DUE BACK IN COURT
Acknowledging a case-by-case basis, Mulroy argued that due to Abston's violent criminal record including assault, rape and kidnappings, the suspect should not have been granted parole.
"There clearly are cases where a person's individual records are so bad, like in this case, that parole should not have been granted," Mulroy said.
Abston 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.
During Wednesday's arraignment, a judge ordered Abston held without bond related to the alleged abduction and death. His previous bond of $510,000 was revoked.
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Mario Abston, the suspect's brother, is expected to make a court appearance Thursday on gun and drug-related charges after investigators conducted a search warrant at his apartment on S. Orleans St. in Memphis on Saturday.
"To my knowledge, there's been no active cooperation on the part of the brother," Mulroy said. "Things are very fluid."
Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
