A coroner who was called to examine a young woman's body after she was found "melted" into the couch in her family's home has described it as the worst death they'd ever seen.
Lacey Fletcher, 36, was found dead in her parents' home in Louisiana in January 2022, with her horrifying death hitting headlines worldwide.
The woman's body was found covered in urine and feces and rotting into the maggot-ridden couch in the home, and this week her parents - Sheila and Clay Fletcher - pleaded no contest to manslaughter.
Dr Ewell Bickham, who is the coroner who examined Lacey's body, has now revealed that he is still affected by what he saw, despite having dealt with every kind of death imaginable over the course of his career, describing it as the "worst" he'd ever witnessed.
Lacey Fletcher's death shocked the world. Credit: Handout
Dr Bickham says the scene that awaited him was the worst thing he'd experienced "in all of my career", telling NewsNation: "I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve never seen a homicide like this. I have never seen a human being literally tortured and allowed to die while she is alive.
"I’ve never seen that (in) my life. … Lacey did not decompose. She rotted in her own body, in that hole, in that sewer, in the couch."
Prosecutors say that Lacey had laid on the couch for around 12 years, slowly wasting away in great pain and suffering, blaming her parents for the gross neglect that led to her death.
The 36-year-old, who had reportedly been diagnosed with autism, weighed just 100 pounds (45kg) at the time of her death, with her parens claiming she refused to eat when they tried to feed her, which led to her being unable to leave the couch and eventually dying.
Photos of Lacey from her younger years showed the happy and bright-looking girl smiling, with her having reportedly been on the volleyball team at school before being homeschooled after ninth grade.
Robert Blades, 61, who was a neighbor of the family, said that Lacey was "just a normal fun kid" before she vanished from sight 15 years ago, after her parents claimed she had also developed "anxiety" and took her to psychologists, according to the Daily Mail.
Despite having dealt with many deaths in different horrific circ*mstances, Dr Bickham says the smell he encountered was something he'd never experienced before when arriving to the home.
He explained: "When I walked in, the house smelled of a stench of, it smelled like a sewer, or septic tank and also a smell of death.
"I’ve never smelled that in my life. I’ve dealt with decomposed bodies. I’ve dealt with all sorts of death, degradation, whatever, never experienced this in all of my career."
He stated that Lacey's parents were in the home when he arrived, with her father being "emotionless" while her mother had her "head between her knees" and shed "a tear or two".
The sight that awaited him in the room still continues to traumatize him to this day, as he added: "It still bothers me today. Like I said, I’ve seen every kind of death there is. I’ve seen elderly people die of natural causes. I’ve seen suicides, homicides, I’ve seen everything there is."
He revealed that there was no evidence that Lacey was being fed except for a small bag of hard candy nearby, and her autopsy revealed that her stomach contained feces as well as yellow foam from the couch she had become "fused" to.
Dr Bickham stated that he did not believe that the parents were living in the home with Lacey as he doesn't believe anyone could "stand the stench" of being in the property for a prolonged period of time.
Tragically, Lacey had horrific sores and even visible bones when she was found, with documents stating that her body had been infested with maggots while she was still alive.
Her parents were arrested in January 2022 after Lacey's body was first discovered in the hole in the couch, and the pair pleaded no contest to manslaughter charges on Monday after having spent almost 18 months denying the higher charge of second-degree murder after being indicted twice by a grand jury in Louisiana.
They had faced the possibility of life in prison without parole if convicted, with their trial having been due to start this week.
The couple are out on bond until February 20 and their next court hearing is at theEast Feliciana Courthouse on March 20.
