Coroner wants graphic photos of woman 'melted' to sofa shown | Banfield (2024)

FAQs

What happened to the girl who melted into the couch? ›

I don't really care," Judge Jones said just before announcing their sentence, per The Advocate. "This was a tragedy. The truth is that Lacey laid on a couch and slowly died because she got no medical or mental health care."

Lacey, who vanished from public view in 2002 when she was roughly 16, had not moved from the spot for 12 years and weighed only 96 pounds when she was found, prosecutors said. A stunned local medical examiner concluded that she died from acute neglect — and said he remains traumatized by the case two years later.

And what they saw was the most horrific thing ever. Lacey Fletcher, who was 36, was found half naked. and fused to the couch in her own feces, urine, and maggots. Her body was completely melted into the couch.

Her body fused into the leather couch cushions as she was covered in urine and feces, as well as maggots living in her hair and inside her. She suffered starvation and bone infections, leading finally to sepsis which caused her death.

Bickham said there was no evidence that Fletcher was being fed except for a small bag of hard candy nearby. He said her stomach contained both yellow foam from the couch and feces.

The 36-year-old Louisiana woman was reportedly diagnosed with autism, and her parents claim they tried to feed her but she refused to eat, resulting in her inability to leave the couch and her subsequent death.

WBRZ and The Advocate both reported that Lacey had previously been diagnosed with autism, and according to testimony Wednesday, her fears were so bad that she refused to leave the home.

Lacey suffered from a medical condition. known as Loch Bin syndrome, making her almost completely paralyzed. Due to her medical condition, Lacey spent all of her life at home.

Lacey Fletcher's life was marred by adversity from an early age. Diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, she faced relentless bullying during her high school years, prompting her parents, Sheila and Clay Fletcher, to withdraw her from school and opt for homeschooling.

CLINTON — Parents Clay and Sheila Fletcher, who were both convicted of manslaughter after their daughter Lacey was found "melted" into a couch, were sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison, with 20 years of the sentence suspended.

What was the autopsy report of Lacey? ›

Lacey's autopsy report stated that her cause of death was sepsis, caused by a chain reaction of several conditions. There was a hole in their couch, which contained urine and feces. Furthermore, there were ulcers on her body, and her underside appeared “appeared rotten to the bone.”

There was feces in her stomach, inside her stomach, in her mouth, and even her ears. She had been trapped on this couch. for the past 12 years of her life. By the time that she was found, she had melted through the couch into a hole, and her skin was fusing with the brown leather.

“There's just so many unanswered questions,” said former East Feliciana Parish Coroner Dr. Ewell Bickham. He said Lacey was severely autistic and her parents neglected her for years. “She hadn't seen any provider, any health care, anybody until I walked into that house when she was 36 years old, deceased,” he said.

Images captured of the couch that Lacey had been fused to show the condition it was found in, with experts summarizing that she didn't move for 12 years. She was found dead sunken into a waste-filled hole in the couch in January of 2022, weighing just 96 pounds.

(NewsNation) — The parents of Lacey Fletcher, a Louisiana woman whose body was found “melted” into a sofa, were sentenced to 40 years in prison each Wednesday, with 20 years of their sentences suspended, according to multiple reports.

Lacey Ellen Fletcher, 36, could not move. Living in nearly complete paralysis with a condition referred to as “locked-in” syndrome, she relied entirely on the care and attention of her parents.

CLINTON — Parents Clay and Sheila Fletcher, who were both convicted of manslaughter after their daughter Lacey was found "melted" into a couch, were sentenced Wednesday to 40 years in prison, with 20 years of the sentence suspended.