Draft:Lacey Fletcher

Lacey Fletcher was an autistic American woman who died due to parental neglect in the summer of 2023. Her case was described by the coroner Dr. Ewell Bickham as something he had never seen in his 30 year long career as a physician. The parents pleaded no contest to a manslaughter charge.

She was buried at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens in Baker, Louisiana.

Background
Lacey grew up in Louisiana, and played Volleyball at Brownfields Baptist Academy. Around 2002, she disappeared from public view.

Her mother, Sheila, had worked as a deputy clerk for the Zachary City Court.

Death
On January 3, 2022 paramedics responded to a call made by the mother, Sheila Fletcher, to their home in Slaughter. When they arrived at the home they found Lacey "melted" into the couch. Her body had been infested by maggots before her death, and she was very emaciated at a weight of 96 pounds. The body was covered in feces, pressure ulcers and wounds resulting in parts of her bones being visible. Yellow foam from the couch she had been laying on and excrement was found inside her stomach. She also tested positive for Covid-19. Lacey was believed to have been in the same position on the couch for as long as 12 years.

Aftermath
The parents were not initally arrested after the discovery of Laceys body. Three weeks after Laceys death, Sheila resigned from her position on Slaughters Board of Aldermen. Later in January both Sheila and Clay Fletcher were arrested and charged with murder, but later the charge was changed and they were indicted of manslaughter. They plead no contest.

The coroner, Dr. Ewell Bickham, was particularly affected and traumatized by the case. He has been cited saying "I couldn't eat for a week, and I cried for a week", and “I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve never seen a homicide like this. I have never seen a human being literally tortured and allowed to die while she is alive."

The case has led to outrage over the parents neglect of their daughter, who had been diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome and severe social anxiety.

Laceys ninth grade teacher, Jeri Lowe-Howell, said “She may well have had autism but that is no excuse for letting her rot away for years until she died. Even if she was in some way resistant or difficult, that’s when parents call in the professionals. It’s not as if she moved out and was in her own home and wouldn’t let them help her. She was in their house! They weren’t helpless. There are resources. I just can’t understand this.”