LA - Lacey Fletcher 36, GRAPHIC, disabled, found dead, on couch for years, Jan'22 *Parents arrested*

[nao]

Moo....if Lacey's friends say they have emails from 2014 maybe the neibour did see her 6-8 years ago...moo

 

[Marysmith]

Moo....if Lacey's friends say they have emails from 2014 maybe the neibour did see her 6-8 years ago...moo

Yes, it’s possible for sure. And maybe the investigators said she was on the couch for 12 years as that Physician said she hadn’t been seen since 2010 (or discussed) and maybe her parent’s said that as an excuse to the investigators that first night as well.

 

[mainemom376]

This is almost completely unbelievable. JMO

 

[whoopiecushions]

"Fletcher had a severe case of autism and was non-verbal."
Is this true? From what past articles have reported, she was in a regular school until 9th grade. Was she in special ed there?

I'd really love to know if she was diagnosed with autism or any other disorder. I know autism can cause regression, but not, to my knowledge, in the teen years.

I'm tired of seeing diagnoses used casually in this case. Unless it's been diagnosed by a doctor, the media should not be reporting it.

I would love to hear from former teachers or classmates.

 

[whoopiecushions]

I agree. It doesn’t add up what her parents are saying. Her classmates said she was talkative, she looks happy on the pictures. How did it come to this?

Where did you read about her classmates?

 

[GoneGoldfishin']

A couple more photos/information here.
Grand Jury indicts parents after disabled daughter left to die on couch for 12 years

Fletcher’s friends from grade school reached out to Unfiltered with Kiran and wanted to make it known that Lacey was not someone who stayed to herself always. She had friends, had a life, played sports with her friends and was ‘normal.’

One friend in particular said she could remember Lacey always emailing her music videos she loved and the Disney rides. “She loved music, especially Country music!! Loved Disney world! Talked about it all of the time!!! She would send us emails all the time about how much she loved it and would send us videos of all the rides she loved! We have emails from her up until 2014,” said her friend Tina Head.
I looked back at [her mother's FB] page one time and the last time she had posted a picture of her was back in 2011, I believe.

Another friend, Allison Falcon said, “We went to a small, private school with Lacey from kindergarten to 9th grade. Lacey was far from nonverbal and immobile during those years. While she did have some learning differences, which was later diagnosed as autism, she had friends, played on a volleyball team and bowling league, had slumber parties, loved going to Disney, and most of all loved music, especially country music and Mariah Carey. She had an outstanding memory and could recite so many facts.”

If she was diagnosed during the time she was enrolled in school, she should have had an ISP (Individual Service Plan). If she had an ISP, she would have had a case manager assigned to her through the State Developmental Disabilities office (Office for Citizens with Disabilities in LA). They require at least annual (often quarterly or semiannual) home visits. What happened here that resulted in her falling through a crack in the system?

 

[tamsidea]

Honestly, without a doctor's diagnosis of locked-in syndrome, I'm not taking either the parents or the Daily Mail's word for it.

I am wondering if it could have been brain damage from a beating that caused the immobility and inability to speak.

This is almost completely unbelievable. JMO

I am almost reluctant to post my thoughts given how wrong I was about Jennifer Faith (thinking she didn't seem like someone who could be involved in her husband James Faith's murder) but I just have to say that I am having a hard time believing some of the things being reported on this case are not exaggerated.
The daily mail in particular introduced the whole "Locked-In" term, not the parents that I can tell. They also keep referring to her being "fused" to the couch though I haven't read that in any statement from LE, the procecuter, or Coroner. I don't believe- or at least I didn't read anywhere that she was immobile or non verbal, and I feel like several articles misquote the Coroner about how long he thinks she had been on the sofa - stating it as a fact that she had been stuck there for at least 12 years instead of what he said he thought was possible.

The parents' statement through their attorney mentions a couple of things that make me feel like this may, just may be a case of the parents giving up after battling with Lacey's mental/emotional issues for years.
Don't get me wrong- they are absolutely guilty of neglecting to get her proper care, regardless - but I can kind of imagine how something like this could happen that isn't outright blatant abuse.
1st- I have two young females within my circle of friends & family who developed social anxiety at about the same time as Lacey. So it absolutely could have been Lacey who initiated home schooling. Her friends did say that she had some kind of issues with learning and it may have made Lacey feel embarrassed or frustrated. The fight to get either of the girls I know to leave the house was a huge struggle for both sets of parents. One family was finally able to overcome the issue (though the now 22 year-old child stills lives at home, doesnt work or go to school) The other has not and in fact the situation has actually gotten worse with the adult child in her mid 20's now refusing to leave her room much of the time. I can really see how that could move on to refusing to leave the couch at some point. If anyone sat on a couch most of the time for years on end they would eventually break through the cushions. And frankly, if she started to refuse to leave the sofa at all, I doubt it would take more than 1 or 2 days at the most for the feces and urine to create the stench described.
2nd - My son has a pretty big scar on the back of his head from a bed sore that happened while he was sedated after having heart surgery as a baby. It only took 2 days of not moving him for the sore to get almost all the way to the skull.

As for the rest - my gut feeling is the media is sensationalizing the details of what is definitely a sad story. And, of course we can't help but feel outrage learning how miserable Lacey's life must have been. I do think the parents SHOULD have gotten her help even if she "balked" at the idea, or "didn't want to," because like several others said - she was obviously NOT of sound mind. I fully acknowledge I may be wrong again. I've just seen too many examples of the media putting details out that don't accurately reflect the truth and feel like it's possible this is one of those times.

 

[azure]

I am almost reluctant to post my thoughts given how wrong I was about Jennifer Faith (thinking she didn't seem like someone who could be involved in her husband James Faith's murder) but I just have to say that I am having a hard time believing some of the things being reported on this case are not exaggerated.
The daily mail in particular introduced the whole "Locked-In" term, not the parents that I can tell. They also keep referring to her being "fused" to the couch though I haven't read that in any statement from LE, the procecuter, or Coroner. I don't believe- or at least I didn't read anywhere that she was immobile or non verbal, and I feel like several articles misquote the Coroner about how long he thinks she had been on the sofa - stating it as a fact that she had been stuck there for at least 12 years.

The parents' statement through their attorney mentions a couple of things that make me feel like this may, just may be a case of the parents giving up after battling with Lacey's mental/emotional issues for years.
Don't get me wrong- they are absolutely guilty of neglecting to get her proper care, regardless - but I can kind of imagine how something like this could happen that isn't outright blatant abuse.
1st- I have two young females within my circle of friends & family who developed social anxiety at about the same time as Lacey. So it absolutely could have been Lacey who initiated home schooling. The fight to get either of the girls I know to leave the house was a huge struggle for both sets of parents. One family was finally able to overcome the issue (though the now 22 year-old child stills lives at home, doesnt work or go to school) The other has not and in fact the situation has actually gotten worse with the adult child in her mid 20's now refusing to leave her room much of the time. I can really see how that could move on to refusing to leave the couch at some point. If anyone sat on a couch most of the time for years on end they would eventually break through the cushions. And frankly, if she started to refuse to leave the sofa at all, I doubt it would take more than 1 or 2 days at the most for the feces and urine to create the stench described.
2nd - My son has a pretty big scar on the back of his head from a bed sore that happened while he was sedated after having heart surgery as a baby. It only took 2 days of not moving him for the sore to get almost all the way to the skull.

As for the rest - my gut feeling is the media is sensationalizing the details of what is definitely a sad story. And, of course we can't help but feel outrage learninghowmiserable Lacey's life must have been. I do think the parents SHOULD have gotten her help even if she "balked" at the idea, or "didn't want to," because like several others said - she was obviously NOT of sound mind. I fully acknowledge I may be wrong again. I've just seen too many examples of the media putting details out that don't accurately reflect the truth and feel like it's possible this us one of those times.

If you read the Daily Mail article quoting the coroner which was posted upthread, you'll have a lot more info about COD and diagnoses: Parents of Louisiana woman, 36, found dead, 'fused to sofa' charged with second-degree murder | Daily Mail Online

 

[tamsidea]

If you read the Daily Mail article quoting the coroner which was posted up thread, you'll have a lot more info about COD and diagnoses.

I did read the COD. She had the sores that got infected and eventually she developed sepsis. She was also malnourished and had Covid. The Coroner did NOT say she had LIS nor did anyone except The Daily Mail say she was "fused" to the couch.
Again. Her parents absolutely neglected to get her proper medical care for her mental illness or the physical illnesses she eventually died from. There is no denying that. My point was just that the truth of what happened may not have been that the parents never cared about her and were intentionally cruel like the Coroner, procecuter, and media have decided.

 

[tamsidea]

I guess I'm also drawing on the experience of dealing with a loved one with mental illness. When a person you love has irrational thoughts and illogical behaviors, it can wear you down and it's hard to know at what point you have to take control and force them into treatment. I am just saying this may possibly be how this happened.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

what happened may not have been that the parents never cared about her and were intentionally cruel

Quote RSBM.

I think you are right to want to full facts and not speculation.

However there is no way this happened over a short period of time. It's yet to be alleged that they made reasonable attempts to get her help.

I also won't claim they never cared about her in the past. But they stopped caring, for some reason. It has been alleged she was left home alone for a long period prior to her death. If true, that was intentional, no way around it.

When people give up on someone and let them die alone in a room, suffering, without ever seeking help, how can that not be an intentional choice? It's not like they made a bunch of phone calls for help and kept being told no.

Maybe it didn't go on for years and years, we'll see. But it wasn't an accident.

All my opinions only.

 

[tamsidea]

Quote RSBM.

I think you are right to want to full facts and not speculation.

However there is no way this happened over a short period of time. It's yet to be alleged that they made reasonable attempts to get her help.

I also won't claim they never cared about her in the past. But they stopped caring, for some reason. It has been alleged she was left home alone for a long period prior to her death. If true, that was intentional, no way around it.

When people give up on someone and let them die alone in a room, suffering, without ever seeking help, how can that not be an intentional choice? It's not like they made a bunch of phone calls for help and kept being told no.

Maybe it didn't go on for years and years, we'll see. But it wasn't an accident.

All my opinions only.

I do think it's possible She said no to getting help - but they should have recognized she was incapable of a logical choice.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Also I am so so sorry you went through that with your infant son. So very sorry.

2nd - My son has a pretty big scar on the back of his head from a bed sore that happened while he was sedated after having heart surgery as a baby. It only took 2 days of not moving him for the sore to get almost all the way to the skull.

 

[peel]

I have an adult 41 yro dtr that does not go to school nor work nor drive.....she has aspergers and also dystonia....so she's on the spectrum....you think I can get her to do anything?.....not a chance....she sleeps alot, in the living room, because she's also a hoarder and her bedroom is stuffed....sometimes she'll go to town and shop....most of her problems really are social....absolutely no social skills, never had a bf or even a friend.......if an adult child doesn't want to do something, you can't make them...

the media does like to embellish....just like in all cases the truth will come out eventually..

we had a large heavy set woman who laid on her couch for 2 weeks....she came in with a huge open wound on her hip....I mean probably a foot wide, clear to the bone.....that is what two weeks in one position will get you.....btw, the wound did eventually heal and close up, the woman lost a lost of weight and was doing well, even though she was slightly developmentally delayed.

 

[Dotta]

This case really breaks my heart

Didn't Lacey have her own bedroom?
A bed with special mattress?

Why did they leave her on this small sofa?

Couldn't they hire a nurse/carer even for a few hours when they were at work?

She was starved (40+ kilos), bitten by insects!!!, dirty, sitting on the rotten sofa, left alone for a few days completely alone.

Any person would go mad after a while in such conditions.

I would never let even a pet suffer this way - let alone a human, a member of my family.


I would not accuse Press of sensationalism.
Such cases should be brought into light as a warning to other soulless "carers"!

 

[Shamrock1]

If she was diagnosed during the time she was enrolled in school, she should have had an ISP (Individual Service Plan). If she had an ISP, she would have had a case manager assigned to her through the State Developmental Disabilities office (Office for Citizens with Disabilities in LA). They require at least annual (often quarterly or semiannual) home visits. What happened here that resulted in her falling through a crack in the system?

She attended a private school before she was homeschooled. “Fletcher attended Brownfields Baptist Academy in Baton Rouge through 9th grade before entering a home-school program.” After 'horrific' death at home, parents of Louisiana woman may soon face murder charges | Crime/Police | nola.com

 

[bombardier]

One of the factors that leads me to believe that Lacey was being neglected against her wishes and desires is the coroner's comment that her stomach contained feces and sofa foam at time of autopsy. Coupled with her low weight and the history of parents leaving for multiple days, it really does sound like she was desperately hungry and did not have any other ability to get food. Is it possible that she had a history of pica/eating non-food items, as some w severe asd might do? Yes, but her description as told by her school friends would lead me to believe she wouldn't have those symptoms. (all IMO and speculation of course)

 

[GoneGoldfishin']

She attended a private school before she was homeschooled. “Fletcher attended Brownfields Baptist Academy in Baton Rouge through 9th grade before entering a home-school program.” After 'horrific' death at home, parents of Louisiana woman may soon face murder charges | Crime/Police | nola.com

An ISP is a plan for getting an individual the support and services he or she needs. If your child attends public school, he or she will have an IEP (individualized education plan). However, those children with special needs who attend private schools will need to get an ISP from a local education agency to make sure their needs are met. While there are fewer services for private school students, students with one of 13 disabilities covered in IDEA may be eligible for equitable services.
What is an Individualized Service Plan (ISP)? - Edupedia

 

[Dotta]

Im beginning to think that they were ashamed of her, of her disability (whatever it was).

So they kept her prisoner at home.
Without social interactions with peers, her condition worsened.

She seemed to be happy at school, her smiles were genuine in school photos.

This "home schooling" is an instant red flag for me.

 

[FlossyMay]

I think when someone refuses or is unable to get up and use the bathroom, it's time to get help, buy diapers, something. You see a bedsore, you take them to the doctor, you call 911. You don't wait till they tunnel down to the bone. You don't go on vacation and leave them to die alone in torment. There is absolutely no excuse for 2 healthy parents to let this happen. This goes way beyond neglect in my book.