Louisiana couple sentenced for allowing their severely autistic daughter to rot to death on their couch



A Louisiana couple has finally been brought to justice for killing their severely autistic 36-year-old daughter, Lacey Ellen Fletcher — found "melted" into a couch and covered in excrement, sores, and maggots.

The victim's parents, Sheila and Clay Fletcher, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month. On Wednesday, an East Feliciana Parish judge decided it was the couple's turn to rot for years in one place.

The sickening scene

Lacey Fletcher's emaciated remains were discovered in January 2022, fused by rotten skin to her parents' living room couch in Slaughter, Louisiana.

Blaze News previously reported that East Feliciana Parish coroner Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III figured the woman's 96-pound body had been been stuck there for well over a decade, making for the kind of scene "you make horror movies about."

"When I first walked in the house, it smelled of feces, fecal material, however you want to put that politely, it stunk. And when I got to the body, the individual was basically sitting in a hole, filled with liquid stool and urine," Bickham told WAFB-TV. "It's the worst form of medical neglect I've ever seen. I don't know any other adjectives or adverbs to add to that."

The Daily Mail obtained forensic pathologist Dana Troxclair's autopsy report, which indicated the victim had "polarizable fibers (most likely fibers from the couch) and maggots embedded in the exposed surface of the bones."

Fletcher likely was infested with the maggots while still alive.

"There was no evidence of decomposition at the time of the autopsy; therefore, it was determined that the maggots were present prior to death," wrote Troxclair.

Extra to the maggots and excrement, authorities indicated Fletcher had sores all over her body, including several ulcers on her underside, reported the Advocate.

Bickham determined that the cause of death was "acute medical neglect." This neglect "led to chronic malnutrition, acute starvation, immobility, acute ulcer formation, osteomyelitis which is bone infection, which led finally to sepsis."

The victim had not been to the doctor in at least 20 years. Sheila Fletcher, who had been away on a weekend trip with her husband the weekend the victim died, reportedly told police that Lacey Fletcher did not need to go to the doctor because "she was never sick."

The ghoulish parents

Sheila and Clay Fletcher later claimed that their daughter, who was reportedly diagnosed with "severe" Asperger's and social anxiety, was of "sound mind to make her own type of decisions."

Under this pretense, they apparently went about their lives while their daughter rotted in a pile of feces right next to Sheila Fletcher's recliner in front of the family television.

On May 2, 2022, shortly after Sheila Fletcher resigned her post as town alderman, the couple was indicted for second-degree murder in their daughter's death.

Their trial was set to begin in June 2023; however, District Judge Kathryn Jones dismissed the indictments, citing defective language in the charging affidavits.

East and West Feliciana Parish District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla re-charged the couple shortly thereafter.

Facing the prospect of life in prison without parole, Sheila and Clay Fletcher withdrew their not-guilty pleas ahead of their trial, which was scheduled for last month, and formally agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter.

Blaze News noted that the couple's defense attorney Steven Moore said, "They were negligent, yes. It is clear they were negligent. They loved her to death — that is the true statement with the Fletchers. They loved their daughter to death."

The sentencing

After hearing over six hours of witness testimony Wednesday, Judge Kathryn Jones said, "Of all the things I can say about this case, the one 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."

Jones did not buy the parents' claim that Lacey Fletcher was of "sound mind" to make her own decisions, stressing it was their responsibility to seek help on the victim's behalf.

"This was a tragedy. The truth is that Lacey laid on a couch and slowly died because she got no medical or mental health care," said Judge Jones.

Clay Fletcher, who wept along with his wife in court, suggested that his victim's "world closed in on her gradually because of her phobias, fears, and social anxieties. The couch was her sanctuary. It was her comfort zone," reported WBRZ-TV.

Jones ultimately imposed a 40-year sentence on both Clay and Sheila Fletcher Wednesday, but suspended 20 years each, reported the Advocate.

The judge also required that both killers serve five years of probation upon their release.

West Feliciana District Attorney Sam D'Aquilla told the New York Post, "We respect the judge's decision. If you had a horse that was in the stall behind your house, and you go back there and the flesh is just gone from its body, and you can see bones exposed. … You wouldn't even treat your animal like that."

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After daughter's body found 'melted' in sofa, parents plead 'no contest' to manslaughter | Banfieldyoutu.be

Parents of severely autistic woman who rotted away for a decade and 'melted' into family couch are re-charged with her murder



The remains of Lacey Ellen Fletcher were found last January "melted" into her parents' living room couch in Slaughter, Louisiana. The shocking discovery of the 36-year-old autistic woman's body, which may have been stuck there for well over a decade in the lead-up to her death, was said by the overseeing coroner to have been "something you make horror movies about."

The victim's parents, Sheila and Clay Fletcher, were indicted on May 2, 2022, for second-degree murder in their daughter's death — shortly after Sheila resigned from her role as town alderman.

Their trial was set to begin last week; however, in May, District Judge Kathryn Jones dismissed the indictments against the couple, citing defective language in the charging affidavits, reported the Advocate.

Following through on his promise, East and West Feliciana Parish District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla has re-charged the 65-year-olds with murder.

D’Aquilla previously underscored that "this case was so horrific. ... You don't treat anybody or animals like that."

What's the background?

TheBlaze previously reported that Lacey was found in a partial state of undress, sitting upright on a couch in her parents' home on Jan. 3, 2022, "covered in feces from head to toe" with "insects all over her body," according to East Feliciana Parish coroner Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III.

Bickham ruled the death a homicide resultant of "acute medical neglect" dating back well over a decade.

This neglect allegedly "led to chronic malnutrition, acute starvation, immobility, acute ulcer formation, osteomyelitis which is bone infection which led finally to sepsis."

Lacey had reportedly not seen a doctor since she was 16.

"The scene was sickening. I've seen some horrible things in my life but nothing like this," said Bickham, a 30-year practicing physician. He estimated that Lacey was likely sitting sunken into a hole she had made in the couch after not moving from it, possibly for years.

"When I first walked in the house, it smelled of feces, fecal material, however you want to put that politely, it stunk. And when I got to the body, the individual was basically sitting in a hole, filled with liquid stool and urine," Bickham told WAFB-TV. "It’s the worst form of medical neglect I’ve ever seen. I don’t know any other adjectives or adverbs to add to that."

According to the Advocate, when East Feliciana Parish sheriff's deputies found the victim, her emaciated body weighed 96 pounds and was infected with COVID-19. Lacey was covered in maggots, ulcers, and other sores. Fecal matter was crushed into her face and across the supermajority of her body.

While Lacey was reportedly diagnosed with "severe" Asperger's and social anxiety, her parents claimed she was "of sound mind to make her own type of decisions" and content to rot away on the couch, right next to Sheila Fletcher's recliner in front of the family television.

"The question on everybody’s mind is, how could they be caretakers living in the house with her and have her get in a condition like that?” said Aquilla. "It’s cruelty to the infirm. We can’t just let it sit."

Bickham told the Daily Mail that when he was presenting the case and showed the pictures to the grand jury, everyone was in utter shock, "Like the clock on the wall never moved again. ... There was complete silence. Some jurors were gasping in horror. Some were staring in disbelief."

WBRZ-TV reported that upon their grand jury indictment for murder charges carrying possible life sentences, the victim's parents turned themselves in and were booked into jail.

One day later, Sheila Fletcher bonded out at $300,000. Clay Fletcher bonded out shortly thereafter.

Bungled indictment

The Fletchers' defense attorney, Steven Moore, filed a motion to quash the indictments early last month, stating that D'Aquilla's office served a different indictment to the defendants than the one filed with the Clerk of Court.

"In sum, the indictment in the record is either a substitute or a different indictment returned by the grand jury," Moore wrote in his motion.

Moore also suggested that the original indictment lacked a signature from the grand jury foreperson as required by law to validate the charging document, reported the Advocate.

According to WAFB, Judge Jones rejected the arguments from the defense that there was no specific intent and that the indictment was not signed by the foreperson, but agreed that the wording had been botched. As a result, she tossed the indictments during a May 30 hearing.

D'Aquilla indicated he'd reindict the Fletchers on June 19, the date their trial was originally scheduled to begin.

Take two

D'Aquilla revived the case and on June 19, brought it before another grand jury, which determined the Fletchers should be tried for second-degree murder in the death of their daughter.

The couple was re-arrested but once again made bond.

D'Aquilla said in a statement, "We will ensure there is justice for Lacey and the public knows that caregivers will be charged for neglecting or abusing a person in their care."

The Fletchers are expected to go on trial this fall.

Woman ‘melted’ to couch; autopsy showed she was eating it, parents out on bond youtu.be

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