THE parents of Lacey Ellen Fletcher – the shut-in who was found dead in the living room covered in feces, maggots and ulcers – said they have suffered their own “heartache.”
In a statement through their lawyer, Sheila and Clay Fletcher stated that don’t want to “relieve the pain of losing a child through the media.”
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Lacey Fletcher, 36, was found on January 3 in a sunken crater in the living room couch inside of the family’s home in Slaughter, Louisiana. Her parents may face possible murder charges.
When she was found, the woman had weighed only 96 pounds, had suffered from bacterial infections and was positive for Covid-19.
“They have been through a lot of heartache over the years,” said the Fletchers’ lawyer, Steven Moore. “Anyone who had lost a child knows what it’s like.”
According to District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla, it’s unknown when Fletcher had last left the couch. He said that her caretakers had let her sit on the couch even while urinating and using the bathroom.
“It was so horrific,” he told The Advocate.
D’Aquilla plans to ask a grand jury next week to bring second-degree murder charges against the Fletchers, arguing that their daughter had suffered prolonged neglect, possibly for years before being found dead.
In the state, a second-degree murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence with no parole.
The woman’s death was ruled a homicide by East Feliciana Parish Coroner Dr Ewell Bickham III and called for an investigation.
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“Her cause of death stems from at least a decade of medical neglect,” he told WFAB.
Sheila Fletcher, 64, worked as a police and court clerk and most recently as an assistant to the city prosecutor in Zachary, according to her LinkedIn.
She was a member of the town’s Board of Aldermen before resigning three weeks after her daughter’s death on January 24.
Clay Fletcher is an officer of the Baton Rouge Civil War nonprofit, according to business filings. The organization as a mission “to educate and foster an appreciation for the sacrifices made during the Civil War.”
The Fletchers are expected in court May 2, where a jury will decide if charges will be brought against them.
In addition to second-degree murder, the Fletchers could also be charged with manslaughter, cruelty to the infirmed, or negligent homicide, D’Aquilla told WAFB.
D’Aquilla said it is unclear if anyone but Lacey’s parents saw her in the years leading up to her death.
Lacey Fletcher suffered from a disability, her parents said in an interview with detectives on January 18.
Lacey was home-schooled from the time she was in high school and experienced severe social anxiety as a teen, her parents said.
The Fletchers also stated that their daughter refused to leave the living room couch.
They claim to have brought Lacey her meals, even saying that she would urinate and defecate in towels or on the floor, as she was afraid to leave the couch.
The Fletchers also claim that Lacey had not seen a doctor in 10 years because she had not been ill.
D’Aquilla says the couple claimed Lacey was “of sound mind to make her own type of decisions.” Sheila Fletcher even claims to have regularly cleaned her daughter’s sores.
But D’Aquilla believes there is a message to be learned here.
“They lost a daughter. I have – not much – but I have a little compassion for them,” he said.
“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.”
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