Couple pleads no contest in fatal couch neglect case

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Sheila Fletcher (L) and Clay Fletcher (R) appear in mugshots; their daughter and the couch she died on (C).

Sheila Fletcher, on the left, and Clay Fletcher, on the right, appear in mug shots; their daughter and the couch she died on, appear inset. (East Feliciana Parish Jail; Screengrabs via WBRZ)

The parents of a disabled woman who died starving on a couch have pleaded no contest to manslaughter after initially being charged with second-degree murder, according to ABC Baton Rouge affiliate WBRZ. East and West Feliciana Parish District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla told Law&Crime that they will be seeking the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison at the sentencing hearing set for March 20.

An attorney for defendants Sheila Fletcher and Clay Fletcher, both 66, reportedly maintained that they loved their daughter Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36, “to death,” but prosecutors in East Feliciana Parish said the couple failed to care for her. Believed to have suffered from near-complete paralysis from “locked in” syndrome, their daughter was found dead on their 1960s-style couch in the town of Slaughter, Louisiana, on Jan. 3, 2022.

Lacey Fletcher had “melted” into the sofa, said East Feliciana Coroner Dr. Ewell Bickham.

A human-sized hole was worn down into the couch where she allegedly sat — and relieved herself — for several years, D’Aquilla previously said.

The woman’s body slowly rubbed the hole through the upholstery and cushion, authorities said. The hole was filled with feces and urine. The DA’s office said there was also feces shoved into the victim’s face, chest, and abdomen — and that her hygiene had been neglected to the point that maggots lived in her matted, knotted hair.

Starvation contributed to her death, authorities said. Lacey reportedly had autism and was nonverbal, but had not seen a doctor since age 16 in 2002. She weighed 96 pounds and had COVID-19 when she died.

Prosecutors had victim advocate Dana Lovett speak on the couple’s behalf.

“Nobody should have to have lived like she did all these years,” Lovett said in court Monday, according to WBRZ. “They had so many resources at their fingertips, especially Mrs. Fletcher. Why she didn’t utilize those resources when she was actually almost hand in hand with people that could help is beyond me.”

The couple’s attorney maintained they cared for Lacey Fletcher.

“They loved her to death, and that is the true statement of what the Fletchers are,” Steven Moore reportedly said. “The things that happened to Lacey are horrible in the way it worked out, but they cared for her daily.”

Speaking to Law&Crime on Tuesday, D’Aquilla voiced incredulousness at this statement and reiterated Lacey Fletcher’s dire physical condition — her skin was falling off her bones. Asked about her condition leading up to the fatal neglect, D’Aquilla alluded to her possibly living with a mental condition but her parents failed to seek treatment for that.

“She couldn’t walk,” he said. “She couldn’t extend her legs out.”

He called the mistreatment “digusting” and maintained that they let it happen.

“We’re not going to just brush this under the rug,” he said.

Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.