This story is another case of parents’ horrific neglect towards their adult daughter with autism.
In fact, the news of an autistic Louisiana woman who was found dead tied to her sofa and covered with excrement shocked the community.
Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36, suffered from nearly complete paralysis–a condition known as locked-in syndrome. Earlier this year she was found dead on her parents’ couch. Covered in feces and emaciated, her body had reportedly “melted” into the couch.
Now, her parents, Clay and Sheila Fletcher have been charged with her second-degree murder. In a recently revealed detail, the DailyMail reported that Lacey was last seen alive in public approximately 15 years ago exercising outside her house.
Lacey was last seen lifting modest weights when she was around 21 years old, according to close neighbor Robert Blades, 59. According to Blades, Lacey was “just a fun, normal kid” before she became more alienated from her neighborhood pals around the age of 14.
He said, “When I saw her that last time, she appeared fairly physically normal,” adding, “She was always pretty thin and she was exercising in the road with those small weights you carry.” He continued, “’I’d see her a few times, gently getting some exercise in the roadway. I didn’t say anything to her that final time, there was no reason to.”
Blades also said that he asked Clay Fletcher about his daughter’s whereabouts around five years ago.
Blades said, “I asked Clay because I hadn’t seen her for so long. I actually thought maybe she got married and moved on,” adding, “I said, how is Lacey? How’s she doing? Has she moved off? Went to college or what?”
Apparently, Clay replied, “Oh no, she’s still here. She’s fine.” before changing the subject.
Blades continued, “I just took him at his word. I had absolutely no suspicions about what actually happened at that house over the road from us. No alerts, nothing.”
Lacey vanished from view in the small Louisiana town where she died in January at the age of 36. She was found as a malnourished feces-smeared body that wore a hole in a sofa on which she had sat for 12 years.
Following a grand jury investigation at the courthouse in nearby Clinton, her parents Clay and Sheila Fletcher, both 64, were charged with second-degree murder and face life in prison without parole.
Hours after the decision, the couple was arrested, but they were released from East Feliciana Parish Jail when a judge set a $300,000 bond for each of them.
Watch the video below for more details:
