Lacey Fletcher was found unresponsive on her family couch and passed away on the 3rd of January, 2022, at around 2 am due to her parent’s negligence.
Who Was Lacey Fletcher?
Lacey Fletcher was a 36-year-old woman born in Louisiana, to parents Clay and Sheila Fletcher.
She had a lovely childhood and enjoyed playing with friends and was also a part of the Brownsville Baptist Academy volleyball team. However, her life took a different turn at the ninth grade.
As per her parents, Lacey started developing an anxiety disorder and numerous debilitating phobias. She received treatment for her autism and also the anxiety disorder, but the length of the treatment varied among different sources.
One of her neighbours has stated that she last saw Lacey when she was 21 years old.
What Happened to Lacey Fletcher?
Reports state that Lacey has suffered from a Locked-in syndrome, which is a rare syndrome that causes full-body paralyses. Though the person has cognitive control, they cannot move any of their body parts, apart from their eyes.
The officials also could not determine when Lacey moved last time. As per 20th Judicial District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla, The caretakers let Lacey sit on her couch, and she used to urinate and used the bathroom on the couch.
On the other hand, Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III mentioned that Lacey has seeked medical assistance two decades ago. He also stated that he has seen many horrible things in his life, but nothing was as horrifying as Lacey’s condition.
What Does Lacey’s Autopsy Report Say?
The autopsy report of Lacey states that Sepsis was the cause of her death. There was a hole in her couch that contained feces and urine. Additionally, there were ulcers on her body and her bone was rotten.
Murder of Lacey Fletcher
When Sheila Fletcher called the emergency service, she guessed her daughter’s age incorrectly 3 times. Instead of stating her daughter was 36 years old, she guessed as 31.
As per the officials, Lacey was discovered naked from the waist down, with a shirt pulled up over her torso which revealed her breasts, and her legs were crossed beneath her. Also, her eyes and mouth were wide open.
The most horrifying thing was Lacey’s skin fused into the couch, as she did moved from the same spot for almost 12 years. She melted on the same couch.
Feces was found in her body, mouth, and also the face. As the officials moved her from the couch, her skin peeled from the bones. To the utter surprise, the officials also noted that apart from the couch, the house looked clean and tidy, whereas Lacey looked imprisoned for a long time.
Ewell Birkam, who has examined the body of Lacey has stated that her official time of death was 3:07 am on January 3rd. However, he believes that Lacey had expired 24 to 48 hours before Sheila rang to emergency services.
The autopsy reports also stated that Lacey suffered from bone infection, starvation, and also stage four ulcer. Additionally, her stomach was filled with feces and foam from the couch.
The state of her body was horrendous and it was difficult for the examiners to understand how she survived so long with such injuries.
Trial of Clay and Sheila
For almost 12 years Clay and Sheila have left Lacey to rot in her own couch and watch her flesh being eaten by live maggots. This is the worse fate their daughter could get rather than death.
Clay (65) and Sheila (64) were arrested on Jan 3rd, 2023 for second-degree murder. On questioning both Clary and Sheila on 18th of January, 2023, they discussed how Lacey has refused to go back to the doctor after she turned 14-years old.
Though there are multiple theories around Lacey’s death, Clay and Sheila had a clear responsibility as parents, to help their daughter, who was suffering both physically and mentally, rather than leaving her to rot to death.
As per a psychologist who interviewed Sheila and Clay, he mentioned that both of them were not diagnosed with any mental health issues. However, they had a “Caregiver superiority complex”, that makes people think they know better than anyone else.
Clay and Sheila were sentenced to 40 years in prison, on March 20th, 2024.
Disclaimer: The information present in this article is publicly present on the internet. While we strive to provide the updated content to our audience, we do not guarantee the completeness of the content. However, we encourage our readers to verify the information presented, before completely relying on it. There are also pictures of the person’s autopsy, so we caution the readers to scroll down the news at your own risk.
