The horrific case of Lacey Fletcher

On January 3, 2022, 911 recieved a call from a woman saying that she had found her daugher dead on their living room sofa. The emergency service rushed to the scene and what the found there shocked the nation. 

Bed rotting is a phrase that we commonly use to describe a person who spends most of their day just laying in bed without doing any daily activities or chores. It usually happens when someone is lazy, lacks motivation. Sometimes It's also a symptom of depression and other mental illnesses. But in a rare neurological disorder known as "Locked-in syndrome" one can portray similar traits. A person with this disorder is conscious, alert and have all their usual cognitive abilities but they are unable to show facial expressions, speak or move. O

ne of the most horrific case of locked in Syndrome was found in USA where the parents left their 36 year old daughter Lacey to rot away on sofa for 12 years. Their daughter allegedly had locked in syndrome and was unable to move.

It's a case of sheer ignorance from her parents. Their daughter Lacey was autistic and used to get bullied in school. Later her parents withdrew her from school and decided to homeschool her. There are several occurances where her parents complained and said that they didnt want to take care of her. Lacey's cognitive health declined with time and she was unable to leave the house. Her parents left her on the couch and placed towels next to her so it would be easier to clean her urine and feces. The rest of the house was well cleaned except for Lacey's couch where she couldn't move at all. Her parents frequently left her there to starve and leave for days to go on vacations. With time she started to get bedsore. Not only did she suffer from starvation, she also faced bone infections and muscle atrophy and sepsis due to living in her own urine and feces. Maggots started eating her dead cells while she was still alive. Her weak rotting body fused with the leather couch cusions. 

When her parents came back from one of their vacations, they found her dead. Her mother called 911 and the emergency service rushed to the scene only to face the tragic scene of Lacey's death. It was determined that Lacey was dead for atleast two days before her mother Sheila finally decided to call them. Lacey's autopsy showed that she had feces and couch cusioning both under her fingernails and in her stomach contents, showing she had attempted to save herself by eating her surrounding before dying on the couch. This horrifying case left the nation speechless. The investigators stated that they couldn’t eat or sleep after investigating the killing due to mental distress that this gruesome case caused them.

Her parents were arrested for second degree murder. Later on March 2024, they were sentenced 20 years with a consecutive 20 years suspended sentence after their pleade. 

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