A Louisiana church couple who have appeared to be a beacon in their community are charged with second-degree murder after their adult daughter, who suffered from locked-in syndrome, was found dead in unacceptable conditions.
Shelia, 64, and Clay Fletcher, 65, will face a grand jury on Monday after their 36-year-old daughter Lacey Ellen was found partially nude, sitting upright and submerged in a hole in a couch covered in urine from head to toe , liquid, was covered in feces and insect bites, with live bugs and rodent droppings near their otherwise orderly home in Slaughter, East Feliciana Township Coroner Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III, told on Thursday.
“The scene was disgusting. I’ve seen some terrible things in my life, but nothing like that,” said Bickham, a medical worker since the 1970s, adding that she had bedsores that reached to her bones.
Lacey suffered from locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological disorder characterized by complete paralysis of voluntary muscles except those controlling the eyes.
Police arrived at the ranch-style home in a suburb north of Baton Rouge on Jan. 3 to find the horrific scene after the parents called 911 because Lacey wasn’t breathing, prosecutors said.
The parents were supposed to look after the girl, but Bickham said she hadn’t seen a doctor in 20 years.
“It’s ruthless, something you make horror movies about,” he said.
A high school photo of Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36. The coroner told the horrific scene of the disabled woman covered in urine, feces and bug bites
A photo showing a close-up of the leather couch Lacey was also burned in. The coroner estimates that Lacey has been sitting in that hole in the couch for the last 12 years
An undated photo of Clay, 65, and Sheila, 64, Fletcher, standing in front of their Christmas tree
A photo of the two-story house on Tom Drive where Lacey lived with her parents
When he got inside, he described the stench as so bad it “almost drove you out of the house.”
He told he knew it was a “potential crime scene” and immediately called his detective.
“The parents were in the kitchen. They had no explanation,” he said.
He ruled her death as homicide and cause of death as medical neglect.
He recorded the official time of death as 3:07 a.m. on January 3, 2022, but said he believed she had died at least 24 to 48 hours earlier.
Sheila Fletcher has worked as a police and court clerk in Baker and more recently as the city’s assistant district attorney in Zachary, the report said.
According to her LinkedIn page, Sheila was a Slaughter officer who resigned from her position on the city’s Alderman Council on Jan. 24, three weeks after her daughter’s death. She served four years, most recently as mayor on the pro team.
State business records show that Clay Fletcher is an officer with the nonprofit Baton Rouge Civil War Roundtable, whose mission is to “educate and encourage appreciation for the sacrifices everyone made during the Civil War.”
Sheila Fletcher resigned from her position on the city council three weeks after her daughter’s death
Clay Fletcher, pictured with Sheila in an undated photo, is an officer with the nonprofit Baton Rouge Civil War Roundtable whose mission is to “educate and encourage an appreciation for the sacrifices everyone made during the Civil War.”
The couple’s lawyer, Steven Moore, was unavailable for comment Thursday when contacted him.
On Wednesday, however, Moore issued a statement on behalf of his client, BPProud reported.
“They don’t want to relive the pain of losing a child through the media. You’ve been through a lot of heartbreak over the years. Anyone who’s lost a child knows what it’s like,” Moore said.
On Monday, Bickham will bring the case to a grand jury in hopes of indicting the parents in their daughter’s death.
“I probably won’t even have to open my mouth, the pictures will show,” Bickham said.
He added, “The jurors are shopkeepers, a lot of farmers had never been exposed to this stuff, so I asked for a medical team to be outside the courtroom.”
District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla told the parents were never taken into custody because they are not considered a flight risk.
A 12-member jury will sit in closed session at the Clinton courthouse, where it will decide charges of manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter or second-degree murder, he said.
“Involuntary homicide is zero to five years; Manslaughter is zero to 40 years and second degree is life in prison. I’m going to ask for a second degree because they didn’t do what they were supposed to do,” he said.
D’Aquilla confirmed to that Lacey’s parents were her main carers and that she had no assistant.
“We don’t treat animals or neglect our animals in this way. If you have an animal in this condition, take it to the vet,” he said.
What is locked-in syndrome? (LIS)
Locked-in syndrome (LIS), also known as pseudocoma, is a rare neurological disorder characterized by complete paralysis of voluntary muscles, except for those that control the eyes.
People with LIS are conscious and can think and reason, but cannot speak or move. They can only communicate by blinking and vertical eye movements.
Some of the causes of this condition can result from traumatic brain injury, a brainstem stroke, tumors, diseases of the circulatory system (bleeding), diseases that surround the myelin sheath around nerve cells (such as multiple sclerosis), infection, or drug overdose.
According to GARD, Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center, there is no cure or specific treatment for locked-in syndrome.
The organization recommends supportive respiratory and nutritional therapy particularly early on.
Additional treatments include: physical therapy, comfort care, nutritional support, and prevention of complications from respiratory infections.
A person with LIS may have partial muscle control in some cases.
Speech therapists can help people with locked-in syndrome communicate more clearly with eye movement and blinking.
Electronic communication devices, including patient-computer interfaces such as infrared eye movement sensors and computer voice prostheses, allow people to communicate more freely and access the Internet.
Motorized wheelchairs have also increased their independence.
People with locked-in syndrome don’t live past the early stages because of medical complications, GARD said.
However, others may live another 10-20 years and report a good quality of life despite the severe disability caused by the syndrome.
D’Aquilla told that Lacey had some issues that made her see a psychiatrist in 1999 or the early 2000s and that she had been antisocial.
He said that in 2011-2012 her parents claimed she didn’t want to leave the house and hadn’t seen a doctor. He said that Lacey’s parents claimed she was able to communicate with them and that she never seemed to complain.
“If you are unable to provide the care, then get help,” he said. “We want people to know that when you’re a caregiver to someone, it’s important that neighbors and the community look out for one another. We hope this never happens again.’
According to a 2020 U.S. Census, 882 people live in Slaughter, a town in East Feliciana Parish.
Many of the homes are spread across acres and when news of Lacey’s death broke, many in the community were stunned, as some were unaware that Clay and Shelia Fletcher even had a daughter.
“They are horrified,” said the coroner, speaking to some neighbors. “Some of these people were church friends who had no idea there was another person in the house.