Current Events > Parents charged with murder of daughter who died 'fused' to sofa after 12 years

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/louisiana-daughter-fused-sofa-parents-charged-murder/

Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36, was found dead at home in Slaughter, Louisiana, in what a coroner described as a scene like a horror movie.

Her parents, Shelia, 64 and Clay Fletcher, 65, were indicted by the grand jury on Monday, over the death of Ms Fletcher, who suffered from locked-in syndrome.

Locked-in syndrome is a rare neurological disorder where there is complete paralysis of all voluntary muscles except for the ones that control the movements of the eyes.

Those with locked-in syndrome are conscious and awake, but have no ability to produce movements or to speak.

When she was found by officers on January 3 , Ms Fletcher was partially clothed, sitting upright but sunk down into the sofa, which was soaked in human waste.

She was covered in insect bites and surrounded by insects and rodent droppings, a coroner told DailyMail.com.

Her parents called 911 because Ms Fletcher wasn't breathing, prosecutors said.

The parents were supposed to be the girl's care providers, but the coroner said she had not been to a doctor in 20 years.

Her death has been ruled a homicide and the cause behind her death stems from at least a decade of medical neglect, Dr Bickham said.

Dr Bickham revealed that Lacey had been on the couch for at least 12 years.

The grand jurys decision to charge the parents came as East Feliciana Sheriff Jeffery Travis told the Daily Mail that "intervention should have happened a long time before this tragedy".

"You cant just let someone rot away," Travis said.

"It is difficult to imagine how someone could get in that condition without family or friends stepping in. Believe me, there would have been help available."

Neighbours of the couple said they were not aware they had a daughter and described them as "pillars of the community", according to the DailyMail.com.

They initially were not arrested because they were not considered at risk of fleeing. The Fletchers were arrested on Monday afternoon.

Outside the court, District Attorney D'Aquilla said: "I believe justice was served here today. Lacey Fletcher didn't deserve the way she was treated.

"For this type of crime second degree is the highest charge that could have been produced today."

Their trial date has not been set yet.

That's some grim dark shit and goes far beyond murder, they slowly tortured their girl until death. Imagine you're paralyzed and can only move your eyes, while forced to sit in the same spot for at least 12 years. It's mind boggling considering someone had to be feeding her throughout the ordeal. Let that sink in.

Death penalty.

voldothegr8 posted...

Death penalty.

No.

CyricZ posted...

No.

hes right, we should paralyse and fuse the parents to a sofa for 12 years

Of course, right away to death penalty!!.

Uh uh. Not this time. No, they get to spend the rest of their lives fastened to a sofa...just like their victim.

ugh my heart bleeds for that woman and what she went through

If one's response to something cruel, horrible, and inhumane is "Can I do it?" then you need to take a moment.

Yeah, I don't mind paying taxes for those parents to rot away in jail for the rest of their lives. Such a horrible story.

The death penalty is too easy of an out for some. My friend was killed by a racist homophobe, a couple of months ago. I figure prison is the perfect place for the idiot.

CyricZ posted...

No.

Yes.

CyricZ posted...

No.

How can you justify saying something like this exactly?

in Slaughter, Louisiana

Um what?

Make them rot in jail.

This instantly reminds me of the story in witcher 3 where the woman was given a potion to act dead so she doesn't get raped and killed by protesters breaking in. But when she woke up, she was paralysed but she felt nibbling on her fingers. Then she was eaten alive by rats.

I really hope her mind was checked out for most of those years

I'm not typically against the death penalty for murder cases but in this specific case I think letting them rot in prison is the most appropriate punishment tbh

Even then they'll still be treated better than their daughter was

like that movie seven but even worse

This is why you need universal healthcare. So parents aren't forced to choose between losing their home and sending their daughter to the hospital.

voldothegr8 posted...

Yes.

You want someone dead, do it yourself.

Crazy that this also isn't the first instance where someone fused to a sofa like that

3PiesAndAFork posted...

This is why you need universal healthcare. So parents aren't forced to choose between losing their home and sending their daughter to the hospital.

This

Exactly why some foreigners think the USA is 3rd world country

CyricZ posted...

You want someone dead, do it yourself.

Yeah! Cyric supports the US justice system and the cops that deliver justice within it!

damn, i thought being 'stuck' in a cubicle 40 hours a week was bad. that poor woman.

3PiesAndAFork posted...

This is why you need universal healthcare. So parents aren't forced to choose between losing their home and sending their daughter to the hospital.

It sounds like they weren't even providing basic care tbqh

Like if you can't afford for someone else to care for your paralyzed daughter the least you could do is make sure she's not living in her own shit and has rats and bugs crawling all over her. Additionally the article makes clear that they could have gotten help if they had ever sought it at any point in the last 12 years

I don't understand... How were they feeding her if the only muscles that worked were used to move her eyes?

3PiesAndAFork posted...

This is why you need universal healthcare. So parents aren't forced to choose between losing their home and sending their daughter to the hospital.

These parents didn't give a fuck. That wouldn't have made a difference

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

I don't understand... How were they feeding her if the only muscles that worked were used to move her eyes?

She might have had a tube, I think that's usually how that works

eston posted...

She might have had a tube, I think that's usually how that works

And that just kept working over the 20 years they hadn't been to a doctor with her? They just blend the food?

If those tubes aren't taken care of, they usually get clogged and you have to get them cleaned out. Sometimes the site might get infected too if you're not taking care of it.

Flauros posted...

like that movie seven but even worse

Instantly thought of that

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

I don't understand... How were they feeding her if the only muscles that worked were used to move her eyes?

Perhaps IV feeding. But still, man...this life thing is shit. This is torture on a scale we can barely imagine.

Also, wtf at how police found out about this. The parents rang up because they thought she was dead. How would they not be hesitant to do that, did they think they were somehow not at fault?

Slayer_22 posted...

How can you justify saying something like this exactly?

lmao

"Let's kill them!"
"Let's not kill them."
How can you say such a thing?!"

A topic about parents being charged with torturing their daughter till she died? Nows my chance to argue against the death penalty!

-Some CE users, probably.

VandorLee posted...

A topic about parents being charged with torturing their daughter till she died? Nows my chance to argue against the death penalty!

-Some CE users, probably.

Those arguing against the death penalty were not the ones who brought up the death penalty first.

CyricZ posted...

Those arguing against the death penalty were not the ones who brought up the death penalty first.

Those wishing for the death penalty in this topic were expressing their outrage at what the parents did. You yourself can also express your outrage at what the parents did without devolving into arguing against those users. I don't agree with the death penalty either, but arguing against this in this particular topic is disrespectful at best.

On topic, lock them up and throw away the key

I think I'd rather die than live with locked in syndrome

Especially if I got caretakers like that

Zikten posted...

I really hope her mind was checked out for most of those years

that's the thing about locked-in syndrome

the motor cortex is totally nonfunctional, but the frontal lobe is fully active

https://www.science.org/content/article/first-brain-implant-lets-man-complete-paralysis-spell-out-thoughts-i-love-my-cool-son

The participant in the new study, a man with ALS who is now 36, started to work with a research team at the University of Tbingen in 2018, when he could still move his eyes. He told the team he wanted an invasive implant to try to maintain communication with his family, including his young son. His wife and sister provided written consent for the surgery.

By holding the tone high or low, the man could then indicate yes and no to groups of letters, and then individual letters. After about 3 weeks with the system, he produced an intelligible sentence: a request for caregivers to reposition him. In the year that followed, he made dozens of sentences at a painstaking rate of about one character per minute: Goulash soup and sweet pea soup. I would like to listen to the album by Tool loud. I love my cool son.
He eventually explained to the team that he modulated the tone by trying to move his eyes.

teep_ posted...

Those wishing for the death penalty in this topic were expressing their outrage at what the parents did. You yourself can also express your outrage at what the parents did without devolving into arguing against those users. I don't agree with the death penalty either, but arguing against this in this particular topic is disrespectful at best.

On topic, lock them up and throw away the key

He did it in a topic about the Boston Marathon bomber, as well as in a topic about a man that murdered an Uber driver in cold blood (which was captured on video).

That said, I fully agree with your assessment here. Hes entitled to have his opinion and express it when appropriate, but the particular topics he chooses to come in and make the argument in are almost always dubious and sad instances where it seems less than appropriate.

What the actual fuck...

yusiko posted...

I think I'd rather die than live with locked in syndrome

Especially if I got caretakers like that

Yeah hopefully we can invent some really good brainwave reader in the future so these people can at least still enjoy interaction online and can browse the internet themselves. And can troll us on gamefaqs.

Locked in syndrome? What the hell is that? Is that something someone can develop under typical life conditions or is it something that only really develops in extreme cases of neglect such as this?

also the parents are monsters and deserve worse than what the legal system can deliver

Kloe_Rinz posted...

What the hell is that?

it means you can't move any part of your body (except possibly eyes) but you can still think normally or mostly-normally

Reminds me of that Twilight Zone episode

I agree with some ITT that the death penalty can be too easy an out for some disgusting people like the parents here, and that it's better that they rot in prison for the rest of their lives.

But at the same time, even if they did get death sentences, being in their mid-60's, they would have likely already died of old age by the time the executions are set to be carried out, and even if they did survive until then, they would still see it as a release.

teep_ posted...

You yourself can also express your outrage at what the parents did without devolving into arguing against those users.

I think these situations are the perfect time to argue the point. Especially when the TC themselves are directly calling for it.

3PiesAndAFork posted...

This is why you need universal healthcare. So parents aren't forced to choose between losing their home and sending their daughter to the hospital.

We do indeed need universal healthcare, but a lack of it doesn't justify letting someone wallow in their own filth. This was intentional neglect.

When it comes to harming your own child, there's really no punishment that's too harsh.

Umbreon posted...

This was intentional neglect.

appears so.

https://www.wafb.com/2022/05/02/parents-woman-whose-body-found-couch-with-feces-around-it-indicted-murder/

The father was completely emotionless, the mothers head was lying down on, between her legs, she was weeping a little bit, explained Bickham.

Coroner Dr. Ewell Dewitt Bickham III said she died on Jan. 3.

CyricZ posted...

I think these situations are the perfect time to argue the point. Especially when the TC themselves are directly calling for it.

I disagree strongly. If there's a topic discussing the death penalty itself, or someone who is being sentenced to the death penalty, then sure. But this topic is primarily about a victim, and it comes off as disrespectful to them. Do you see the difference?