Parents Face Life Sentence For Dead Daughter ‘Fused’ To Couch In Own Excrement, Maggots For At Least 12 Years

The parents who allegedly left their daughter, Lacey Fletcher, “fused” to a couch to die in her own excrement for at least 12 years are facing second-degree murder charges.

The parents, Clay Fletcher, 65, and Sheila Fletcher, 64, will stand trial after their daughter was found dead on a couch that she apparently had not moved from in almost 12 years, reported WAFB, a CBS affiliate in Baton Rouge.

Lacey reportedly died on Jan. 3 in her parents' home in Slaughter, Louisiana, according to Coroner Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III.

"Opened the door, walked into the house, there was a stench, an odor, feces, fecal material, urine, you couldn’t hold your breath," Bickham told WAFB.

Lacey reportedly died while her parents were away on a weekend trip. They had told authorities their daughter suffered from extreme social anxiety and autism.

She was found on a couch submerged in a hole where she was fused to the cushion. She was sitting upright and was partially naked with feces, urine, maggots, and insect bites on and around her, the Daily Mail noted.

She also had bedsores down to her bones, which may have indicated she had been stuck to the furniture for at least 12 years, which Bickham told the Daily Mail could have been longer.

“Evidence wise, a minimum of 12 years. Could be before that. At least 12 years. A terribly long period of time,” Bickham told the news outlet.

The Daily Mail said that Lacey’s hair was matted and filled with maggots. She weighed less than 100 pounds at the time of her death.

Bickham said that “The cause of death stemmed from severe medical neglect, which led to chronic malnutrition, acute starvation, immobility, acute ulcer formation, osteomyelitis which is bone infection which led finally to sepsis.”

The rest of the family’s home was described as otherwise neat.

Medical records, according to Bickham, indicated that Lacey did not have a primary care physician. The parents were told to bring their daughter to the hospital for treatment, but she was never admitted.

Sheriff Jeffery Travis told WAFB, “I have been a sheriff for six years, and I have had a lot of things happen here in East Feliciana Parish, but this type of scene, this is by far the worst.”

A trial date has not been set in the case.

Shelia and Clay Fletcher have been booked into the East Feliciana Prison in Clinton, according to the sheriff’s office. Bonds have also not yet been set.