Woman Melted Into The Couch For 12 Years — Tragic Case of Lacey Fletcher

Lacey Ellen Fletcher was born on November 25, 1985 in Slaughter, a very small town in Louisiana.

The young woman was the only child of the marriage formed by Sheila and Clay Fletcher. It is known that at the age of 9 she moved with her parents to a two-story house on the cul-de-sac Tom Drive and quickly made many friends in the neighborhood.

Ella Lacey attended Brownfields Baptist School in Baton Rouge where she seemed to be a very happy child who enjoyed playing on the volleyball team, and every Sunday she attended church with her parents.

At one point during her school years, Lacey was diagnosed with autism as well as some degree of Asperger's syndrome. When she was little she was never very obvious to the other kids she went to school with because she spent the day laughing and playing like anyone else would.

A friend from high school described Lacey as "thoughtful" and one of the "sweetest, kindest people she had ever seen. Search video of a blonde girl giving hugs to other teenagers. According to her, she was characterized by welcoming friendships and above all for making newcomers to school feel good.

It seems that things began to change during Lacey's adolescence.. At this stage her autism led her to have difficulties with her social skills that became quite evident to people her age who were around her. they surrounded.

One of the neighborhood kids Lacey grew up with said that at that time the young woman's interests were very different from those of other teenagers. Search video of young girls with makeup or clothes While girls her age were beginning to become interested in fashion and makeup, Lacey only liked to play like little children.

She reached a point where her difficulty following her social cues prevented her from interacting with the students in her class and with the kids in her neighborhood with whom she had previously spent so much time.

To this we must add that Lacey began to have many difficulties in school which led her to experience severe social anxiety. Although she regularly went to a psychologist to try to overcome her difficulties, nothing seemed to work and Lacey continued to isolate herself.

Because of this, in her ninth grade, her parents decided to take her out of her school to educate her at home. From here on, people who knew her began to see her less and less.

The Facts:

On the morning of January 3, 2022, a woman named Sheila Fletcher called the emergency room when she found her seemingly unconscious daughter.

When the police arrived at the house they discovered something that left them in shock… On the sofa of the house between a smell of feces and urine lay lifeless Lacey Fletcher, a 36-year-old girl.

The body was in such a state that it did not look like that of a human being since it was partially naked and sunk in a hole in the sofa with its body fluids and worms.

Apparently Lacey hadn’t moved from the couch for 12 years. The autopsy determined that the young woman died of serious chronic negligence because her parents did nothing to help her.

For all this, on May 2, 2022, a grand jury accused Lacey Fletcher’s parents of second-degree murder. The judges didn’t even consider manslaughter.

On March 20, 2024, Lacey Fletcher’s parents were sentenced to 40 years in prison with the possibility of being released in 20 years.

According to The Advocate, there were more than six hours of testimony from 11 different witnesses before the sentence was read in the Clinton District 20 Court.

Both Sheila and Clay reportedly cried, stating that they could have done more to change the result.

“Of all the things I can say about this case, the only thing that keeps coming to mind is that Clay and Sheila Fletcher continually chose the path of least resistance when it came to the care of their daughter,” said district judge Kathryn “Betsy” Jones in the courtroom.

Lacey’s parents had testified that her daughter refused to receive medical attention.

On Wednesday, prosecutors argued that, due to Lacey’s mental state, she could not make the decision to refuse medical treatment. Lacey had been diagnosed with autism and was non-verbal.

Let’s remember that on January 3, 2022, 36-year-old Lacey Fletcher was found dead on the sofa of the house where she lived with her parents in Slaughter.

Apparently she had been there for 12 years without moving and when she was found her body was covered with worms, “ulcers in her lower part and crushed fecal matter on her face, chest and abdomen.” He also tested positive for COVID-19.

A forensic doctor declared that his weight had reached as low as 96 pounds, and that his bones were visible.

Another Louisiana coroner ruled that Lacey died of “acute medical neglect” inflicted during a period that dates back to at least 2010.

“We can discuss whether or not this process took three months, six months or three years. I don’t really care,” Judge Jones said just before announcing his sentence, according to The Advocate. “This was a tragedy. The truth is that Lacey lay down on a couch and died slowly because she didn’t receive medical or mental health care.”

“We hope that the community will receive the message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated,” D’Aquilla said, reports The Advocate. “Beware of your friends, talk to your neighbors and make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. It’s something that could have been avoided.”

Thank you very much for reading the case and subscribing ❤️

Sources:

https://nypost.com/2022/05/03/parents-of-lacey-ellen-fletcher-indicted-for-murder/