MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Late Wednesday, a Shelby County judge delayed a decision on whether to dismiss a lawsuit of a sexual assault survivor against the City of Memphis.
Alicia franklin sued the City of Memphis, saying it failed to thoroughly investigate the sexual assault complaint she made against Cleotha Abston Henderson, a man later accused of killing Eliza Fletcher.
We spoke with her lawyer before and after Wednesday’s hearing, and he said he’s confident in their case.
"For [the City of Memphis] to say 'there's nothing to see here, move along, there's no connection,' there is absolutely a connection, and the fact that he is charged in both cases underlines that," Gary Smith Alicia franklin's attorney said.
22-year-old Franklin alleged Henderson attacked her almost a year before Eliza Fletcher went missing.
"I never in a million years thought something like that would happen to me," Franklin told ABC News in September. "They had more than enough evidence that night when they interviewed me to get him off the streets, but they didn't."
The results from her sexual assault kit - linking Henderson to her case - were not entered into a national database until a few days after fletcher's body was found.
In the 25-page court filing, the city admits to some of the facts of franklin's case, including that she did report being raped on September 21, 2021. But the city denies that Franklin ever told them her attacker also went by the name 'Cleo,' or positively identified him. The city also objected to her claim that it should have gotten info about her attacker from a dating app.
"Had the sexual assault kit come back earlier, had there been sufficient proof, had Ms. Franklin been able to positively identify Abston from the photo lineup, had he been arrested earlier; no one knows what would have happened," Tannera Gibson the attorney representing the city said.
Franklin's attorney claimed she suffered emotional damages and the city should pay.
“From the time of Eliza Fletcher's murder, Alicia Franklin has had trouble sleeping, eating, working," Smith said. "It has haunted her constantly that if I had just pushed the police to do their job I could've saved her life.