A Louisiana mother and father who neglected their daughter, whose body was found “melted” on a maggot-infested couch, have been sentenced to spend the next 20 years in prison.
Lacey Ellen Fletcher36 years old, could not move. Living in almost complete paralysis with a condition known as “locked-in” syndrome, she was completely dependent on the care and attention of her parents.
On January 3, 2022, Lacey Fletcher was found dead and slumped on a couch in her home in Slaughter, a small town of less than 100 residents located approximately 40 minutes north of Baton Rouge.
She was covered in feces, emaciated and her body was full of ulcers.. According to East and West Feliciana Parish District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla, there was a human-sized hole in the couch where the victim sat and relieved herself for several years.
In early February, in a statement issued by his then-defense attorney after pleading no contest to the manslaughter charge, Sheila Fletcher and Clay Fletcherboth 66 years old, maintained that they loved their daughter “until death.”
Additionally, the two testified that their daughter refused medical care, however, prosecutors noted that Lacey Fletcher’s mental state did not allow her to make the decision to take clinical treatment.
He weighed 96 pounds.
“The question everyone is asking is: How could the caregivers who live in the house with her be and have her in a condition like that?” D’Aquilla told NOLA.com, detailing at the time that her skin the woman was falling off her bones, and promising that she would seek justice for the worst case of human negligence I have ever seen.
The coroner reportedly determined that the victim had last seen a doctor two decades ago. He weighed 96 pounds at the time of his death and had COVID-19.
Prosecutors pushed for the maximum sentence after the plea, which was technically applied during the sentencing hearing. Both parents were sentenced to 40 years in prison with 20 years of their sentences suspended, according to Baton Rouge-based CBS affiliate WAFB.
The couple will also be subject to five years of supervised probation once they are released from prison.
“Of all the things I can say about this case, the only thing that comes 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 Jones. in the courtroom.
“We can discuss whether this process took three months, six months or three years. I really do not care. This was a tragedy. The truth is that Lacey lay on a couch and slowly died because she received no medical or mental health care”, he concluded.
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