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

[passionflower]

"The Fletchers reportedly said Lacey developed 'some degree of Asperger's syndrome' after 9th grade when she started being home schooled."

Louisiana parents insisted it was daughter's decision to stay on couch

Clay, 65, and Sheila Fletcher, 64, were indicted by a grand jury on second-degree murder charges in the death of their daughter, Lacey, 36, who was found 'fused' to a sofa by her own excrement.

www.dailymail.co.uk

How does that happen? I can't help but think child sexual abuse.

question: why was she home schooled after 9th grade?

question: is there a medical/scientific link to age-related Asperger's syndrome? (after ninth grade?

I don't think it was Aspergers but a way to avoid unwanted physical contact...many reports of sexually abused people making themselves "unattractive" after sexual abuse..be it weight gain, extreme weight loss, etc...this would be the extreme...but nothing else makes sense to me for someone to want to become immobile and bury herself (as reported by her parents to a doctor) and the caregivers to allow her to do just that and in her own waste.

I totally agree with your statement. My hunky meter goes off to abuse before she got bad. Maybe pregnancy? Who knows! To grab a child out of school withdrawn from the world!

 

[passionflower]

I also think that all the wipes etc on the table could be staged to say they tried to clean her. Parents could of picked her up and put her in a bathtub. No excuse for any of this!

 

[Tony1902]

No....just.NO

 

[Shamrock1]

I believe there’s a certain level of record-keeping required under LA homeschool laws. Curious if any records remain (if they existed in the first place).

 

[airportwoman]

Some of the more lunatic-fringe homeschoolers, who are actually quite a powerful lobby, may have led to standards and record-keeping being discontinued. They scream "Religious discrimination!" and everyone caves.

 

[trujac]

This case might have elements of Stockholm syndrome where the parents and daughter's abusive co-dependency relationship morphed into a continuous and repetitive cycle of a contest of wills and willingness by both parties to engage while accommodating each other, which ultimately led to the long and dragged out tortuous death of Lacey. Her parent's statement that their daughter essentially made the decision to stay on the couch and didn't want to move off it suggests that there was some type of choice and agreement initially when Lacey and her parents started on the terrible journey of Lacey dying inhumanely on the family couch after sitting there for several years. I think and hope the moral and legal ramifications of this case will change how parents and their children are expected and allowed to interact with one another in the privacy of their home when the child has been diagnosed with psychological/physical challenges requiring special accommodations and/or assistance.

 

[azure]

This case might have elements of Stockholm syndrome where the parents and daughter's abusive co-dependency relationship morphed into a continuous and repetitive cycle of a contest of wills and willingness by both parties to engage while accommodating each other, which ultimately led to the long and dragged out tortuous death of Lacey. Her parent's statement that their daughter essentially made the decision to stay on the couch and didn't want to move off it suggests that there was some type of choice and agreement initially when Lacey and her parents started on the terrible journey of Lacey dying inhumanely on the family couch after sitting there for several years. I think and hope the moral and legal ramifications of this case will change how parents and their children are expected and allowed to interact with one another in the privacy of their home when the child has been diagnosed with psychological/physical challenges requiring special accommodations and/or assistance.

I'm not sure that anything will change due to Lacey's death. As a society, we've gotten rid of institutions because they are often inhumane, but now we rely on the humanity of the parents.

Somewhat random observation: in this case it seems to me that the parents treated Lacey like a sick or aging pet they found too burdensome to continue caring for. At some point they used the wipes, the commode, etc. Then they gave up on that and let her use the couch as a toilet. Finally, it seems, they left town and "let nature take its course". As a former vet tech, this seems very similar to what some people would do with an old or sick pet if they were unwilling to care for it. It's absolutely sickening whether it's an animal or a human, but it's relatively common with pets. By no means am I equating Lacey with a pet, just making an observation about how some people give up on the act of caretaking when it becomes challenging, messy, or painful.

 

[trujac]

I'm not sure that anything will change due to Lacey's death. As a society, we've gotten rid of institutions because they are often inhumane, but now we rely on the humanity of the parents.

Somewhat random observation: in this case it seems to me that the parents treated Lacey like a sick or aging pet they found too burdensome to continue caring for. At some point they used the wipes, the commode, etc. Then they gave up on that and let her use the couch as a toilet. Finally, it seems, they left town and "let nature take its course". As a former vet tech, this seems very similar to what some people would do with an old or sick pet if they were unwilling to care for it. It's absolutely sickening whether it's an animal or a human, but it's relatively common with pets. By no means am I equating Lacey with a pet, just making an observation about how some people give up on the act of caretaking when it becomes challenging, messy, or painful.

You bring up an important and sad reality. I think a court of law will look carefully to see what all happened leading to this awful outcome for Lacey. Unless the parents of Lacey were benefiting financially at her expense by leaving and/or allowing her to succumb to a painful death under horrendous conditions--their attorney's might be able to successfully argue the parents and their child were both involved and responsible for what happened to Lacey over the course of many years--where Lacey eventually was an adult able and protected by law to make her own decisions on how she wanted live in her parents home. The parent's legal rights might be protected in this case if they can prove Lacey chose a slow form of suicide over having to deal with her social anxieties. Safe Haven Laws might also pertain to this case in so far as the parents had a moral and legal duty to override their daughter's neglect for herself by turning her over to the appropriate authorities for lifesaving care. It is hard to believe that no one outside of her parents knew what was going on in this home. However, stranger forms of horrifying abuse and neglect have happened over long periods of time, like in this case, where no one had a clue what was going on.

 

[Dotta]

You bring up an important and sad reality. I think a court of law will look carefully to see what all happened leading to this awful outcome for Lacey. Unless the parents of Lacey were benefiting financially at her expense by leaving and/or allowing her to succumb to a painful death under horrendous conditions--their attorney's might be able to successfully argue the parents and their child were both involved and responsible for what happened to Lacey over the course of many years--where Lacey eventually was an adult able and protected by law to make her own decisions on how she wanted live in her parents home. The parent's legal rights might be protected in this case if they can prove Lacey chose a slow form of suicide over having to deal with her social anxieties. Safe Haven Laws might also pertain to this case in so far as the parents had a moral and legal duty to override their daughter's neglect for herself by turning her over to the appropriate authorities for lifesaving care. It is hard to believe that no one outside of her parents knew what was going on in this home. However, stranger forms of horrifying abuse and neglect have happened over long periods of time, like in this case, where no one had a clue what was going on.

I don't think that helping with somebody's suicide attempt is legal.

If a member of the family has mental problems and is a risk to oneself, I think it is our duty to intervene.

 

[trujac]

I don't think that helping with somebody's suicide attempt is legal.

If a member of the family has mental problems and is a risk to oneself, I think it is our duty to intervene.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a wide area of social and legal interpretation when it comes to how, where, and why someone chooses to end their life and whether people who are involved are legally responsible. Having last year lost a close long term friend to suicide--where they decided to spend time in a co-worker's home to work out some health and psychological related problems after retiring...then opting to hang themself..I was shocked that the State didn't investigate the death more closely from the standpoint that the co-worker was aiding and abetting the suicide. Because they had left a litany of detailed ruminations of their frustrations over the years with family and friends (notes written by hand), the detective I spoke with said law enforcement was satisfied that the co-worker was not culpable in their death. It was an unhappy eye-opener for me, especially since the co-worker assisted in helping them set up their last Will and Testament by driving them to an estate attorney's office where they were listed as the only beneficiary to their estate prior to the hanging. I think if there is enough documentation and evidence in Lacey's case showing the degree of Lacey's disabilities, her parents attempt to care for her, and no evidence of malice of forethought, the degree of Lacey's final years of suffering on the couch while she slowly died with be mitigated by her parent's misguided love for her.

 

[Dotta]

Unfortunately, there seems to be a wide area of social and legal interpretation when it comes to how, where, and why someone chooses to end their life and whether people who are involved are legally responsible. Having last year lost a close long term friend to suicide--where they decided to spend time in a co-worker's home to work out some health and psychological related problems after retiring...then opting to hang themself..I was shocked that the State didn't investigate the death more closely from the standpoint that the co-worker was aiding and abetting the suicide. Because they had left a litany of detailed ruminations of their frustrations over the years with family and friends (notes written by hand), the detective I spoke with said law enforcement was satisfied that the co-worker was not culpable in their death. It was an unhappy eye-opener for me, especially since the co-worker assisted in helping them set up their last Will and Testament by driving them to an estate attorney's office where they were listed as the only beneficiary to their estate prior to the hanging.

Well, in my country there is so called "legal incapatication" if a mentally ill member of a family doesn't want treatment and is a risk to oneself and others.

It is done in Court of Law.

 

[trujac]

As I have said before, ASD is often - or even usually - diagnosed later in girls. It is far more difficult to 'spot' in women and girls, but that doesn't mean it wasn't there from the start. It becomes more obvious over time, because the difficulties in social communication don't really manifest themselves as much in girls in early childhood or primary level education.

ASD itself is not a trauma response. It is neurological, with a strong genetic link. It is something you are born with. But there's no easy test for it, especially if you are so-called 'high functioning' and have the intelligence that allows you to compensate for it to a degree. Being treated badly because of it, or being given terrible, out-dated treatments can cause great anxiety, depression and trauma on top of the ASD but it doesn't cause the ASD.

Based on what her school friends have said - and I legitimately believe them more than I do her parents - it sounds like she simply was on the spectrum and they absolutely couldn't handle that, in any way shape or form.

This might explain why Lacey fell through any legal safety nets (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)--her social difficulties and symptoms started when she was 14--prior to that age she wasn't classified as vulnerable and needing help. Had she experienced her difficulties in school at an earlier age she would have been on the radar of professionals able to assist her and her parents wouldn't have been in the position of having unmonitored care and control over her as she became an adult. I think IDEA might need more provisions to protect children. It doesn't seem like evaluations and testing of children who withdraw from school is mandatory and applied across the broad...thereby, creating a tracking record of what's happening to a child as they disappear from regular social interactions with their peers and educators.

 

[GoneGoldfishin']

Well, in my country there is so called "legal incapatication" if a mentally ill member of a family doesn't want treatment and is a risk to oneself and others.

It is done in Court of Law.

Every one of the states in the US has an involuntary commitment process; i.e. Florida famously has the Baker Act ( where, I recently learned mental health institutions are affectionately known as "bakeries"!). Louisiana's operates in an unusual way which doesn't go through court but is assigned to the coroner or medical examiner of the county.
"If a family or friend believes their loved one is might be suffering from a mental illness, they can contact a coroner and ask for an "order of protective custody". That document allows for sheriff deputies or police officers to go retrieve that individual and bring them in for an evaluation, during which they can be held for up to 72 hours."

Louisiana law gives coroners mental health duties

Most people wouldn't think of calling the coroner when they believe a family member is mentally ill, but in Louisiana that's the law.

www.wdsu.com

 

[trujac]

It is not that ASD is a trauma response. It is the fact that abused children may exhibit behaviors that abusive parents falsley CLAIM is Autism to explain it away. There have been numerous cases on WS that where parents claimed their kid had Autism and ran away. When they were actually abused to death by the parents. While my parents never claimed I had Autism, I am living breathing proof that child abuse causes unusual behaviors in a child. I didn't want to be touched by anyone, I didn't talk to anyone, I stayed in a corner, I didn't play with other kids. My parents could have probably gotten away with claiming I had Autism as well. MOO.

Having lived through what you experienced...In the early 1960s, a child experiencing learning difficulties and/or social problems in the school (acting out in class, failing class assignments, aggression, stealing other children's food at lunchtime, anxiety and fear, etc.), it was assumed that the maladjustment was the result of a disability that the child had. The parents were never looked at as a contributing factor to the child's disorders, especially if the parents were respected in their community. I am not so sure things have changed much in the last 60 years. Lacey is an example of how the system failed her. Nothing appears to have happen when she left school in 9th grade...School officials and educators apparently let the Fletcher's handle their daughter's problems on their own.

 

[trujac]

I do think it's interesting that there was a commode and a table with hygiene supplies... were they "offering" these options to Lacey but not willing to step in and clean her/move her themselves? Would like to know the best before dates on these products (i know the nasal spray should have one) to see if they were actually used or represent relics from years ago when Lacey was still being tended to.

Yes, I agree, the time table is critical to this case--the expiration date of the hygiene supplies and when Lacey was no longer able to assist herself will weigh heavily on when the parents completely forfeited their care for her. I hope no one thinks I support Lacey's parents in her cruel and obscene death. For me, this case has so many factors to it. A lot of people share some responsibility on how this terrible situation evolved and ended up.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

I don't think that helping with somebody's suicide attempt is legal.

If a member of the family has mental problems and is a risk to oneself, I think it is our duty to intervene.

Hopefully they won't try to put some of the blame on her. That would be a horrifying defense in this case, IMO. She did not choose to "commit suicide." As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, she was trying to find something to eat until the very end, trying to survive.

My speculation only: Maybe she did develop severe anxiety and did strongly protest at being taken for treatment. But so what, that's why there are doctors and mental health professionals to call for help. I feel her parents didn't want others to find out about their "problem." Kept it secret, no matter what, even when it became abuse and she was clearly suffering.

 

[FlossyMay]

I have a feeling these two placed the potty chair and baby wipes there and told the victim to use them. They obviously didn't help her to get off the sofa or clean her themselves. They strike me as prideful and stubborn people. I'm sure they blame her for this whole situation.

 

[Dotta]

Lacey's parents are culpable of many things but the gist of them is
ABLEISM.

Dislike/hatred of the disabled.

She was not important to them, they let her waste away.

But Lacey deserved the fulfilling and happy life.

Like every human being.

MOO

 

[HMSHood]

What a disturbing & bizarre case …. What is a possible explanation for someone not getting up & moving around from one single spot for a decade or more ?!!
There doesn’t seem to be an indication that she was physically disabled in a way that kept her from getting up….. was she chained or something?!??

That is what I suspecting too. Lacey's friends state that had e-mailed her up to 2014.

 

[MimosaMornings]

That is what I suspecting too. Lacey's friends state that had e-mailed her up to 2014.

Wonder why they stopped emailing?
No response?
I find it odd none of her friends went to her house to see if she was ok after they suddenly stopped getting emails back from her?
JMO