The tragic case of Lacey Fletcher
On January 3rd, 2022, emergency services received a call from a woman in Louisiana.
The woman’s thirty-six-year-old daughter had recently passed away at her home.
The authorities arrived only to be welcomed by a gruesome scene.
“A woman was found dead, partially nude, and sitting upright while also being submerged in a hole in a couch.
Covered from head to toe in urine, feces, and insect bites. The poor woman had bed sores that went down to the bones. Her body was found with live bugs and rodent excrement.” — Reporter
Lacey Grew up in a Small Town
Lacey Ellen Fletcher grew up in the small town of Slaughter, Louisiana, USA.
The town has a population of no more than 1000 people. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows everyone.As stated in this article, you can browse your selection of available deals on smartphones and top brands and explore the cell phone service plans that best suit your needs.
Lacey was the daughter of Clay and Sheila Fletcher.
The couple was highly respected in their community. Sheila worked on local politics, and Clay worked for a non-profit charity.
When Lacey was nine, the Fletcher family moved into a quaint two-story house.
Lacey attended school at the Old Brownfields Baptist Academy, and her teachers described her as intelligent and sweet.
She was a welcoming girl to newcomers. And she was a member of the school volleyball team.
Unfortunately, Lacey was diagnosed with autism. So, she had to be homeschooled around the age of fourteen or fifteen.
Lacey Was Diagnosed With Social Anxiety
Lacey also started suffering from social anxiety as she grew older.
She was no longer the happy girl she used to be. And she wasn’t maturing at the same rate as her peers.
Lacey enjoyed children’s movies and toys more, while her former friends had developed the typical adolescent interests.
Her friends moved on, and Lacey was left behind.
Then, after a few years, Lacey suddenly vanished.
The last time Lacey was seen in public was when she was about twenty-one. Lacey wasn’t seen again for several years.
Neighbors asked Clay how Lacey was doing if she had gone to college, gotten married, or just moved out of the small town. Clay informed them that Lacey was fine and still alive.
It wasn’t until January 3rd, 2022, that the mystery of Lacey’s whereabouts was unveiled.
The Police Received A Call
Sheila called 911 to report that her daughter was not breathing.
Upon entering the Fletcher home, a strong smell of urine and feces greeted the authorities with a strong smell of urine and feces.
And Lacey, then thirty-six, was confirmed dead by authorities.
Her body was partially dressed and sitting upright. Her upper lip was curled up, exposing her teeth.
Her body was infested with bugs and covered in bug bites, sores, and ulcers that had rotted to her bones.
Her face was covered in large red spots.
Her feces were smeared all over her body, her face, and inside her ears. And it was caked in her hair, which had become tangled.
Also, plenty of maggots covered her body.
Lacey’s body had sunk into the couch. Her body melted into the couch until she was practically fused with it.
Lacey weighed only 96 pounds at the time of her death.
Her being underweight was due to medical neglect, leading to chronic malnutrition, starvation, ulcer formation, and bone infection.
It was speculated that Lacey was left on the couch for at least 12 years.
The Police Investigated Lacey’s Parents
The police questioned Clay and Sheila.
The couple stated that they did take care of Lacey and that her anxiety was so intense that she refused to leave the room.
Clay and Sheila said they brought Lacey her meals on the couch.
The couple claimed that Lacey defecated and urinated on towels beside the couch because she didn’t want to leave it.
Nonetheless, they claimed she was in a healthy state of mind to make her own choices before she died. So, there was no need for them to call a doctor.
Especially since she never complained about her sores and had social anxiety.
However, authorities discovered with certainty that Lacey would have been in extreme pain. So, the district attorney strongly believed the couple intended to neglect their daughter to the point of death.
Some of the neighbors and many friends of the Fletchers didn’t even know they had a daughter.
Medical records showed that Lacey didn’t have a primary care physician. Her parents once went to the doctor’s office to get advice on how to help Lacey.
The doctor told Clay and Sheila to take Lacey to the hospital, but they never did.
Lacey’s autopsy reports indicated that she died due to gross medical negligence. And Lacey’s death was officially ruled as a homicide due to gross negligence.
How Did Lacy End up Like This?
Lacey also suffered from a rare neurological disorder known as locked-in syndrome. The syndrome causes a person to become paralyzed.
All voluntary muscles except those that control the eyes stop working.
People with locked-in syndrome are conscious and awake but can’t move or speak.
So Lacey had become a prisoner within her own body. And she was completely at the mercy of her parents, who neglected her.
On April 2nd, 2022, Clay and Sheila were arrested. Clay and Sheila were charged with second-degree murder on May 2nd, 2022.
But Clay and Sheila were released from prison on bail bonds as they await trial.
“They lost a daughter.
I have, not much, but I have a little compassion for them. But I think we have to send a message. You need to take care of your people better than you do your animals.
I just want people to recognize, if you have a situation like that you have to take action.” — The District Attorney
Sources: Nypost.com, The Misery Machine, Disturban