Lacey Fletcher melted on a couch. Why did her parents change their plea?

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The Lacey Fletcher case — or the woman in Louisiana who was found dead and “melted” into a couch — was back in the news in 2024 when Fletcher’s parents, Sheila and Clay Fletcher, appeared in court and changed their plea related to Fletcher’s death.

In 2022, Fletcher, who was 36 when she died, was discovered where she had reportedly been sitting for 12 years, so long that the cushions on the couch had started to decompose from Fletcher’s feces and urine. She had a bone infection and had developed severe ulcers all over her body. Maggots grew in the sores, likely while Fletcher was still alive, according to The Daily Beast.

Medical examiners determined that Fletcher, who was diagnosed on the autism spectrum with severe social anxiety, died from sepsis and “poor hygiene, prolonged immobility, and malnutrition as a result of severe chronic neglect of a special needs individual,” according to the coroner’s office.

It’s now thought that Fletcher, who weighed less than 100 pounds when she died, also lived with locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological disorder causing muscle immobility except for muscle movements in the eyes.

Fletcher’s parents were indicted on second-degree murder charges

In 2022, Sheila and Clay Fletcher were indicted on second-degree murder charges, although they said they were innocent and that Lacey was “of sound mind” when she refused to leave the couch. That conviction was thrown out, however, on technicalities. One year later, a Louisiana grand jury reopened the case, according to The Advocate.

According to Sheila and Clay, they did what they could care for their daughter while she was still alive. Their defense attorney, Steven Moore, said, “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,” according to The New York Post.

According to victim advocate, Dana Lovett, however:

“Nobody should have to have lived like she did all these years. They had so many resources at their fingertips, especially Mrs. Fletcher. Why she didn’t utilize those resources when she was actually almost hand in hand with people that could help is beyond me.”

The Daily Mail says Sheila worked as a police and court clerk, and as an assistant to the city prosecutor.

Fletcher’s parents pleaded no contest to manslaughter

Two years after Lacey Fletcher died, her parents were back in court to plead no contest to the lesser charge of manslaughter, meaning they didn’t admit guilt in the case, but accepted the charges against them.

Referring to the case, Louisiana District Attorney, Sam D’Aquilla said:

“You know, you wouldn’t treat your animals like that. 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…I mean you wouldn’t even treat your animal like that.”

The Fletchers could face 40 years in prison, and as of this report, their sentence was expected to be handed down on March 20th, 2024, WAFB.com reported.

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