Parents charged with murder over daughter found dead ‘fused to sofa in her own waste’

Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36, who had incapacity points, was discovered useless sitting in a gap within the sofa surrounded by her personal waste

The mother and father of an autistic lady who was discovered useless ‘fused’ to a settee along with her personal excrement has been charged with second-degree homicide.

The grand jury chosen in Clinton, Louisiana, on Monday indicted Clay Fletcher, 65, and Sheila Fletcher, 64, over the dying of their daughter Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36.

If convicted, the couple would face life sentences in jail, in accordance with WAFB.

The house smelled of fecal materials and Lacey Ellen Fletcher’s physique was sitting in feces and urine (Image: East Feliciana Parish Coroner’s Workplace)

Coroner Dr Ewell Dewitt Bickham III discovered that Lacey died at her mother and father’ dwelling in Slaughter on January 3.

The grand jury’s determination got here as East Feliciana Sheriff Jeffery Travis instructed the Each day Mail that ‘intervention ought to have occurred a very long time earlier than this tragedy’.

‘You'll be able to’t simply let somebody rot away,’ Travis mentioned at his courthouse workplace close to Clinton.

‘It's troublesome to think about how somebody might get in that situation with out household or associates stepping in. Consider me, there would have been assist obtainable.’

Lacey suffered from locked-in syndrome, a uncommon neurological situation that prevented her from shifting her muscle groups. She was discovered sitting upright, partially bare and submerged in a gap within the Nineteen Sixties-style sofa with feces, urine and bugs round her.

Graphic photographs confirmed Lacey with mattress sores all the way down to the bone, on the furnishings that she might have been caught to for a dozen years.

Travis mentioned that ‘the mother and father might have contacted authorities and had Lacey dedicated the place she might have been assisted’.

The 12-person jury additionally thought-about expenses of manslaughter and negligent murder.

Neighbors of the daddy and mom mentioned they weren't conscious that the couple had a daughter.

The Fletchers have been reportedly revered and seen as pillars of the neighborhood. They initially weren't arrested as a result of they weren't thought-about liable to fleeing.

They didn't seem in court docket on Monday and haven't been seen since information of their daughter’s dying broke final week.

Medics have been readily available within the courtroom on Monday because of the distressing nature of the pictures and particulars offered to the jurors.

Their trial date has not been set but.

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