Oct. 23, 2024

The Horrific Case of Lacey Fletcher

The Horrific Case of Lacey Fletcher

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Season 6

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In this episode of Unspeakable, Kelly examines the tragic case of Lacey Fletcher, a victim of severe neglect and familial abandonment. KJ delves into her life, highlighting the isolation she faced as her mental health deteriorated due to social anxiety and a communication disorder. Over twelve years, Lacey remained unseen by the outside world, ultimately leading to a horrifying discovery. Kelly recounts the investigation into her death, uncovering the unsettling details of her parents' responses and the broader implications of their actions.

#Laceyfletcher #louisiana #crime #unspeakable #podcast

Timestamps
06:28 Lacey's Struggles Begin
14:27 The Shift to Homeschooling
20:19 A Disappearance of 12 Years
22:10 New Year Tragedy
24:52 The Horrific Discovery
28:45 The Coroner's Shock
33:29 A Tortured Existence
42:07 Parents' Defense and Denial
49:41 Ignorance or Neglect?
55:23 The Aftermath and Sentencing

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WEBVTT

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Welcome to Unspeakable, a true crime podcast where I tell

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stories of real crimes with real victims, whose cases are

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so shocking that many are left wondering how is this

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even real? I use my experiences in law enforcement corrections,

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and combined with my years as a criminal justice educator,

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dig deep into complex cases of evil acts, some so

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evil many feel they are unspeakable. Warning. Unspeakable as intended

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for mature audiences. If you are easily offended, then I'm

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not your girl. Listening discretion is advised. Hey y'all, kJ

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you're back for another episode of Unspeakable. How's it been.

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How's it been going? It's been going well for me.

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I took off a couple of days of work because

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I was so so sick, as you can tell. But

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I got so much writing done it's just unbelievable. And

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if my boss is listening, no, you're not all right.

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Let's do some shout outs real quick. What do you

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think about that? So let's go all the way to Vernon, Texas.

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I've got Miss Jennifer Young. Hi, Jennifer, I hope you're

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doing well out there as well as in Orinda, California.

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Miss Tracy Hampton Hey, Tracy, what's going on. I hope

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you all are watching me podcasts so I can wave

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at you. And then Pittsburgh, Mississippi, Miss Julie Russell, Hey, Julie, Julie,

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how is it going? And then Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I

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got Mississippi in the house today. Amanda Akers, Hey, Amanda,

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how are you doing? How is it going over there

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in your neck of the woods. It's going pretty good

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over here. And then right here in my yard, Denim Springs, Louisiana,

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and a former student of mine to boot so Holly Meyers,

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Hey girl, I just saw her at that fall fest

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that we had. I had a booth there, and so

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I know she's doing well. And I just I get

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so excited when I see kids that I taught. It's

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so neat and they're doing well. So hey Holly. And

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then in Port Barrington, Illinois, Eileen Oaks, Hi, Eileen. So

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thankful to have you join so as usual, you know,

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saying thank you. There's only so many ways I can

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say it, but I appreciate every one of you from

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the bottom of my heart. You are helping make my

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dreams come true. I know I still have more shout

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outs to do, and I will continue to shout them

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out over the next couple of episodes. So y'all hang

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in there and listen for your name. I have not

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forgotten you. Now. This case that I'm about to do

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is a Louisiana case, and I've had people ask me

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for it, and it was a kind of a big one.

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So we're going to jump on into this one, and

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I want y'all to go with me. Let's go together

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to East Feliciana together. And that is a parish in

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South Louisiana, and it's located in the southeastern part of

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the state, kind of on the Mississippi border. And it's basically,

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if you're not from here, it's what all non locals

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probably imagine all of Louisiana to be like from the movies.

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It's got big mossy oak trees and that slow charm

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that they always represent us as in movies and in films,

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and you know, people say ma'am and sir and thank you.

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We actually still kind of like tip our hats and

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not hello whenever you pass. And it's probably one of

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the most beautiful places of the state if you ask me,

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super super rich history. It's got vibrant culture there and

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you know you're there when you're there, So between the

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food and the great outdoors, it really is a place

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to visit if you're ever over this way and you

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like historical type places to go and check out. And

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by the way, if you're a fan of the Beverly Hillbillies,

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you can see the final resting place of Donna Douglas,

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who famously played Ellieme Clampett. She is also buried there.

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But beyond all of this, there's just everyday people living

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their normal, everyday lives, just making it day to day,

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just like the rest of us. And one family that

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was doing just that was the Fletcher family. Their names

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were Clay and Sheila Fletcher. They were a married couple

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and they were parents to daughter, Lacey Fletcher, and they

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had a normal middle class America life, like I always say,

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like us, like the people who were listening, and Lacey

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was their pride and joy. She was born on November

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twenty fifth, nineteen eighty five, and had been making them

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proud basically ever since. And as a young girl, she

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was described as smart and fun, outgoing, and every single

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person that I read about spoke about her. They all

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said the same thing that she had this huge smile,

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and I guess we all know that's going to be

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a problem. Whenever you say how great outgoing and someone

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has a great smile, you know that that's not going

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to go that well. So I just hope people, you know,

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if I'm ever killed, I want to lineup a room

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because we know that's always gonna go bad.

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Right.

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But she played volleyball for the Brownsville Baptist Academy team,

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and she had this tried and true group of friends

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that ever since a very young age. They were very close,

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extremely close, and kind of like they're what I call

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like meat and potatoes friendship. They go together and they

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were always together, and Lacey could be found listening to

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her music when she wasn't out playing and playing volleyball.

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She specifically liked Mariah Carey and she just liked being

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a typical young girl. Now, when she grew into a teen,

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things began to change, and this specifically was around her

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ninth grade year, and that's when Lacey began facing challenges

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that her parents really didn't foresee happening. The school that

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Lacey attended closed down after her ninth grade year. They

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just didn't have the funds to continue forward, and so

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they were gonna have to shut down. So that forced

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all of these friends to transition to other high schools.

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And when Lacey was faced with losing her core group

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of friends that she had grown up with, she took

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it really really bad, like really bad, and she developed

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this severe social anxiety. And her parents did pick up

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on this anxiety that she was experiencing, and it got

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so bad that they said, you know, maybe we ought

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to just homeschool her. It might just be a better

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fit for her. And I do applaud parents that realized

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that their kids aren't doing well in a public school

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system or whatever and decide maybe we could bring them

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home and do better, you know, at our home, helping her.

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I think there's nothing wrong with that, and I think

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it's a beautiful thing that we have all of these options.

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But before that homeschooling began, Lacey attended a new high

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school for roughly a month before all of that was

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put into place, and during that month, it was alleged

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that she was exposed to bullying, which she never experienced

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before at her former school. So the bullying, combined with

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the big changes of starting this new high school just

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were just too much for her. And before you yell

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at me and you go, well, Dan Kelly, you know

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we all got to grow up. We all have to

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learn to face hardships. I do want to add this in.

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When she went to the doctor around the age of fifteen,

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she was diagnosed with a social anxiety disorder and autism.

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So you know that matters to me. I feel like

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that is a key component in this case. And her

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autism was described as a level two. Now I don't

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profess to be an expert in autism or any type

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of disorders, and so I did go do some research

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on it because I was curious what does it mean

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to be leveled two? And so here's a little explanation.

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There's three levels of autism spectrum disorder, and each autistic

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person is going to be diagnosed as either level one,

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level two, or level three, with level three requiring the

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most support and intervention in their lives. So Lacey was

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a level two. And so this type of person usually

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finds it hard to communicate or to socialize in ways

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that are considered you know, acceptable or understood by average society.

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So for example, they may pace around, they repeat the

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same things over and over again. But mainly what stood

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out to me about level two is that these types

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of people tend to struggle with self regulation. And so

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this is just a brief explanation. It's obviously more complicated

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and there's way more that you have to add in

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and take into consideration. So if you are a parent

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of someone who suffers with autism, please know from my heart,

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I know that I'm not an expert in it, and

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I'm just trying to give a basic understanding to all

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of my listeners. So with their being more things to

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consider and that it could be more complicated than just

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what I've said in terms of a care plan, it's

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still important to understand that there should be some sort

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of care plan in place because they do need help.

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And it kind of brought me back to this time

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when I was teaching. This was years ago, and there

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was a girl. I didn't actually specifically teach this child,

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but she was when I had duty on break. She

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was during my shift, and she came up to me

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one day very odd socially, and she asked me if

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I would read a book that she had written, and

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I was like, I don't really have time on on

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duty to read the book. She's like, no, you have

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to read it. You've got to read it right now.

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Please read it, Please read it. And she kept handing

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it to me and handing it to me. So obviously

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a light bulb went off, and I'm like, okay, we've

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got something going on here that's not you know, average,

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And I said, sure, no problem, and so I opened

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the book, and as I started reading it, I was like,

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holy shit, batman, because y'all it was robot porn that

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she had written, and I was not equipped nor ready

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at nine am in the morning to deal with robot porn.

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Said stuff like looking down his metal, you know, triceps,

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he looked below and saw his USB core dangling, and

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I was like, oh shit, oh shit. So anyway, told

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her it was a great book. Keep writing this is wonderful,

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except that I don't think you need to share it

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with anyone at school today. And she was like, oh, okay, cool,

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and she kind of went about her way. But I

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kind of feel like maybe that was what Lacey was like.

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You know, she could obviously help herself in certain ways

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like eating and drinking and using the bathroom and going

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to class, but other than those core group of kids

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that grew up with her and understood her, she may

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would have been kind of outcast socially. So if you

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think back to the nineteen nineties, if you're old enough

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to which makes me sick to say, but if you

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think back to the nineties, then you'll likely agree with

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me that autism wasn't something that was spoken about or

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acknowledged the way that it is today, and diagnosis for

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this wasn't really like a big, big thing, and there

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certainly weren't many, you know, things in place to help

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assist people that might suffer with these struggles. And if

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I'm being honest, when I was a kid growing up,

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I grew up in the eighties and the nineties, you know,

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we just kind of took it as those kids act different,

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and we just kind of wrote it off as weird,

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not really realizing there was much more at play. We

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were kids were like, whatever, he's weird, come on, let's

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go play. And that's just kind of what we did.

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And the Fletchers, the parents were no different than the

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rest of us in that way that their lack of

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understanding and then limited resources that they had like in

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their home for them, they just they seemed to miss

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the boat here, and so they didn't quite address the

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issues like we would attack them today. So where do

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I get that from? Well, Lacey's English teacher, her name

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was Jerry low Howell. She taught her in ninth grade,

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and I believe she actually taught her multiple years. But

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she was quoted as saying that she realized Lacey might

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be struggling with some type of learning disability and it

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was so obvious to the teacher that she did meet

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with her parents to say, look, you know, I know

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she's been progressing all these years, but now it seems

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like she's kind of not only plateaued, but she's kind

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of struggling and maybe going going down a little bit

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00:12:23.159 --> 00:12:27.399
in her school performance, and to boot her mother. Lacey's

222
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:31.440
mother was unhappy with Lacey's school performance and felt that

223
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:34.000
she should have been doing better. And the teacher said,

224
00:12:34.320 --> 00:12:38.039
I got the impression that Sheila was in denial of

225
00:12:38.080 --> 00:12:40.279
what was going on with Lacey. And I can tell

226
00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:44.840
you firsthand experience, denial is real in parents who don't

227
00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:47.559
want to see things that are happening. It is so real.

228
00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:52.960
And the teacher also said that she remembered Lacey as

229
00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:58.399
and these words are really particular to me, angelic and precious,

230
00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:01.360
and that she always had a look of innocence on

231
00:13:01.399 --> 00:13:05.200
her face. I don't think I've ever described a kid

232
00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:09.120
that way, which tells me she really thought about Lacey,

233
00:13:09.559 --> 00:13:13.799
and she really thought about how she came across angelic, precious,

234
00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:16.799
and always having an innocent look about her. And I

235
00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:18.799
wanted to tell y'all that to kind of give you

236
00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:23.559
an essence of Lacey. Now, Lacey did begin seeing a

237
00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:27.759
psychologist between the years two thousand and two thousand and two,

238
00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:31.639
but it's unclear just to exactly what the frequency was

239
00:13:32.039 --> 00:13:37.200
and how long doctors are required by law to keep

240
00:13:37.240 --> 00:13:41.200
their records affects why we don't quite know, because from

241
00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:43.720
what I understand and from what I read, doctors only

242
00:13:43.720 --> 00:13:47.399
have to keep their specific records for seven years, like

243
00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:52.279
the I guess their notes and such. And if that's incorrect,

244
00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:53.799
please a doctor, you can reach out and talk to

245
00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:55.639
me about it. But from what I read, that's why,

246
00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.039
and it would make sense because the doctor here didn't

247
00:13:58.120 --> 00:14:02.000
have the records from the time that the case is

248
00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:06.759
about to evolve here. So what happened was Lacey's father

249
00:14:06.960 --> 00:14:10.759
and mother grew a bit frustrated because they said Lacey

250
00:14:10.799 --> 00:14:14.480
began giving pushback about going to the doctor and going

251
00:14:14.519 --> 00:14:18.200
to the psychologist. And the doctor's name was doctor Donald Hopp,

252
00:14:18.519 --> 00:14:21.600
and he is believed to have seen Lacey between ten

253
00:14:21.720 --> 00:14:24.039
and twelve times, which to me is not a lot,

254
00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:26.960
but he has it notated that it had to have

255
00:14:27.000 --> 00:14:31.320
been ten to twelve times. Now, the Fletchers thought, like

256
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.679
I told you, that homeschooling would be best for Lacey

257
00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:38.399
because her emotional state and her anxiety continued to increase,

258
00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:44.279
and it seemed like her participation socially was just decreasing,

259
00:14:44.759 --> 00:14:48.120
and so from all outward appearances, it really seemed like

260
00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:50.279
it was a good move that they made because not

261
00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:54.720
only did she seem to do well with her online schooling,

262
00:14:54.840 --> 00:14:58.399
but she actually completed it and did graduate high school.

263
00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.480
So when she graduate, her parents did, like everybody does,

264
00:15:02.519 --> 00:15:05.159
they threw her a party to celebrate her graduation. And

265
00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:06.919
it was limited though there weren't like a bunch of

266
00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:09.960
teenagers running around or anything. It was basically close family

267
00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:15.679
and Lacey didn't have any tight close friends anymore like

268
00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.399
she used to, and so family would have really been

269
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:20.559
the only people that would have been invited. It wasn't

270
00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:22.759
because her parents said, no, you can't have friends. It's

271
00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:25.639
just kind of where she was in the moment. And

272
00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:29.240
so after her graduation, it seemed like she really just

273
00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:33.879
began sticking around the house, going outside, even like outside

274
00:15:33.879 --> 00:15:37.480
the doors became less and less. But one thing Lacey

275
00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:41.080
did really enjoy doing was swimming. She really liked it,

276
00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:45.080
and so her dad, Clay noticed this because Lacy would

277
00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:46.679
always want to go to the neighbor's house to swim

278
00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:49.480
they had a pool. Well, whenever he noticed how much

279
00:15:49.519 --> 00:15:51.879
she was liking to swim, he decided to put in

280
00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:54.360
a pool for her at their house. It wasn't an

281
00:15:54.399 --> 00:15:57.120
in ground pool or anything like that, it wasn't above

282
00:15:57.159 --> 00:16:00.679
ground pool, but nonetheless he put it in for her.

283
00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.720
But Lacey never used it after he put it in.

284
00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:08.360
Matter of fact, she really stopped going outside much at

285
00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:11.399
all and would only, according to her father, look out

286
00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:13.960
the window at the pool, but she wouldn't actually go

287
00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:19.360
outside and get in it. And then Lacey also had

288
00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:24.039
developed some major phobias that were starting to have a

289
00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:28.840
huge impact on her life, and this included that she

290
00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.960
no longer wanted to sleep in her own bed. In

291
00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.840
her bedroom, she had become deathly afraid of the dark.

292
00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:38.200
And this was a legitimate phobia. It wasn't like, oh,

293
00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.320
I don't want to be by myself, No, she was afraid,

294
00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:44.600
and so she started sleeping on the couch in the

295
00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:49.840
living room. Eventually, once she started sleeping on the couch,

296
00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:54.679
she was really lied, not limited, but she limited herself,

297
00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:57.879
I guess, and would really only go from the couch

298
00:16:58.200 --> 00:17:01.039
to the bathroom and then back to the couch. It

299
00:17:01.120 --> 00:17:05.240
just seemed like she felt really safe there. Well, then

300
00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:08.759
one day Lacey was watching TV and she saw a

301
00:17:08.920 --> 00:17:11.960
show where there was a snake and the toilet on

302
00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:16.039
the TV, and this just erupted and spawned a new

303
00:17:16.079 --> 00:17:19.039
fear in her where now she no longer wanted to

304
00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:22.640
go use the toilet because she was scared of it. Well,

305
00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:25.359
this became a legit issue because we've got to go

306
00:17:25.359 --> 00:17:28.519
to the bathroom, and so the Fletchers went and got

307
00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:31.240
her a portable toilet and they put that up next

308
00:17:31.319 --> 00:17:33.160
to the couch for her to use, kind of like

309
00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:36.880
old people, you know, the little portable toilets use. They

310
00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:38.640
got her one of those, and so she would use

311
00:17:38.640 --> 00:17:42.599
that and her mom would dump it for her. But

312
00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:46.960
sometime around twenty ten, Dad Clay went and saw the

313
00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:51.400
psychologist without Lacey, and he was very frustrated when he

314
00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:54.319
went to go visit the psychologist. He told him how

315
00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:57.880
Lacey wouldn't even leave the house now, wouldn't even walk outside,

316
00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:00.960
and she seemed to be continuing to decline. And he

317
00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:04.640
was also aggravated because, in his own words, he said

318
00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:07.759
that Lacey is now resisting us fully about coming or

319
00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:12.160
going to the doctor. Her activity levels were also slowing,

320
00:18:12.240 --> 00:18:14.319
and this was starting to stress him out. He wanted

321
00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:16.680
her moving more. He's that's why he put a pool in,

322
00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:18.359
was to make sure that she continued to move and

323
00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.160
have activity. But now she won't even go outside or

324
00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:24.720
near the pool. So the doctor listened to all that

325
00:18:24.759 --> 00:18:29.359
mister Fletcher had to say, and considering mister Clay, the

326
00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.160
dad said that, look, and Lacey's really not communicating much

327
00:18:32.200 --> 00:18:36.079
with us in helping us out. The doctor said, it

328
00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:39.160
looks like she's functioning at a really poor level and

329
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:41.279
it's probably to a point now that we might need

330
00:18:41.279 --> 00:18:44.240
to have her hospitalized because this is just not normal

331
00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:47.559
and we've got to get her functioning on basic levels,

332
00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.079
I mean using a toilet, you know, her phobias are

333
00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.440
kind of getting out of control. We probably should hospitalize her,

334
00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:57.200
but that never happened. Lacey was never put into a hospital,

335
00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.599
nor was she you know, po seed or anything like

336
00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:02.839
that to facility. Now, the neighbors that lived next door

337
00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:06.680
to them did say that at one point they did

338
00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.279
remember seeing Lacey outside for the last time. And this

339
00:19:10.519 --> 00:19:14.880
was she at one point before she stopped stepping outside,

340
00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.839
did have some little dumbbells that she would carry, little

341
00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.519
lightweight dumbbells in your arms, and she would walk about

342
00:19:21.559 --> 00:19:23.799
outside at times and they would see her walking with

343
00:19:23.880 --> 00:19:28.839
her little dumbbells and getting exercise and moving. But after

344
00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:32.640
that last sighting of her walking with those dumbbells, it

345
00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:37.359
seemed like Lacey just really disappeared. No one ever saw

346
00:19:37.400 --> 00:19:40.160
her again. The neighbors never saw her again. This sighting

347
00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:43.880
was around twenty twelve that she was last seen walking

348
00:19:43.920 --> 00:19:48.839
about with the dumbbells, and the neighbors pretty much felt like, Okay, well,

349
00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.200
she was old enough, mate. She probably moved off to college,

350
00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:53.559
or she moved away, maybe she got married. But you know,

351
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:55.480
people grow up and they move out of the neighborhood.

352
00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:59.799
Because she was not ever seen again by anyone ever,

353
00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:05.279
like ever again, no more sightings of her. Now. I

354
00:20:05.319 --> 00:20:07.680
don't want to gloss over this next part, but I

355
00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:09.319
kind of have to go quickly with it because I

356
00:20:09.319 --> 00:20:13.240
don't have any more to give you. But twelve years

357
00:20:13.599 --> 00:20:21.000
would pass without anyone seeing physically seeing Lacey. Twelve years.

358
00:20:21.319 --> 00:20:25.960
Please don't lose that in this story. Twelve years now.

359
00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:30.359
During this twelve years, Clay and Sheila remained a happily

360
00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:34.400
married couple. They would take trips, they liked to work

361
00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:39.680
in their community. They were very poignant I guess, fixtures

362
00:20:39.680 --> 00:20:44.400
in their community. And they lived in an area called Slaughter,

363
00:20:44.680 --> 00:20:47.680
which I know that sounds graphic or something, but that's

364
00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:49.200
just I don't know. I'm used to it. We grew

365
00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:51.759
up with Slaughter. But you know, it's not a very

366
00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.279
big community. I think the last census or something I

367
00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:57.319
read said there was like less like a thousand people

368
00:20:57.400 --> 00:21:01.240
or something like that. Not big at all. But the

369
00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:05.240
jobs that they had weren't just any jobs like McDonald's

370
00:21:05.319 --> 00:21:07.359
or something. They both worked in positions where they were

371
00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:11.960
considered to be respectable people. Sheila was an alderman, which

372
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:15.359
is someone who's voted into office and they basically assist

373
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:19.799
in local council duties and decision making, and they serve

374
00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.920
She kind of served as the right hand man to

375
00:21:21.960 --> 00:21:26.880
the mayor. And then Clay worked for a nonprofit called

376
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:30.519
the Baton Rouge Civil War Roundtable, which is an organization

377
00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:34.640
that educates and it aims to foster an appreciation for

378
00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.079
the sacrific sacrifices of all of those that were in

379
00:21:38.119 --> 00:21:40.440
the Civil War. And I mean, I consider that to

380
00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:43.319
be respectable. You're trying to educate on the history of

381
00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:46.119
the area. And then she's an alderman. People went to

382
00:21:46.160 --> 00:21:51.039
her with their issues and problems to be solved, all

383
00:21:51.079 --> 00:21:54.839
in all good wholesome jobs that showed true engagement in

384
00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:58.119
the community community in which they lived. They would also

385
00:21:58.839 --> 00:22:02.599
attend LSU football games together, go on trips. They lived

386
00:22:02.599 --> 00:22:06.680
their everyday, normal lives. But they never seemed to be

387
00:22:06.799 --> 00:22:09.319
with Lacy in any of the photos or the trips

388
00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:13.440
that they went on. So the Fletchers, I want you

389
00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:16.200
to fast forward with me now to twenty twenty two,

390
00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.720
and the Fletchers had gone on a weekend getaway to

391
00:22:20.799 --> 00:22:23.000
celebrate the new year. They were going to ring In

392
00:22:23.039 --> 00:22:26.319
twenty twenty two together, and when they returned from that

393
00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:31.559
weekend getaway. Everything in their lives would change forever. A

394
00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:34.720
call would come into nine one one from the Fletcher

395
00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:39.799
household on January third, twenty twenty two, and Shila Fletcher

396
00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:42.720
is on the other line telling the dispatcher her name

397
00:22:42.759 --> 00:22:47.079
was Darren Mullins, that her daughter had stopped breathing. Her

398
00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:50.160
temperament in this nine one one call, though, is weird.

399
00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:56.759
It's like almost off putting because she is very, very calm.

400
00:22:57.079 --> 00:23:00.759
And I can tell you from trainings that everyone does

401
00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:04.599
act differently, people do respond differently. I mean, I know

402
00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.920
there's one audio I use when I teach of this

403
00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.319
dad who's you know, child is choking on a chip

404
00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:12.160
and it sounds like he's, you know, taking a nap.

405
00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:15.640
He's so blase about it because people do react differently.

406
00:23:15.960 --> 00:23:19.039
But she's not calling saying help me, my my my

407
00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:23.680
daughter's choking. She's saying, my daughter is has not been breathing.

408
00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.319
In essence, it's like she's dead. But she's very calm.

409
00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:30.759
Then the dispatcher says, okay, how old is she? And

410
00:23:30.799 --> 00:23:35.039
she says, uh, she's in her thirties. And it's like,

411
00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:38.599
what a strange way of identifying your only daughter's age,

412
00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:41.839
she's in her thirties, and then they try to nail

413
00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:44.359
her into okay, well, like how old is she? And

414
00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:48.119
she gives the wrong age like twice because Lacey was

415
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:50.759
thirty six and her mom was just saying in her

416
00:23:50.759 --> 00:23:52.920
thirties and I think she said thirty one or thirty two?

417
00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:56.039
How do you not know? How do you not know

418
00:23:56.079 --> 00:24:00.400
how old your child is? So then there's kind of

419
00:24:00.400 --> 00:24:03.079
a pause in the sequence of the call, and then

420
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:07.920
Sheila says she stopped eating and she's an adult. So

421
00:24:08.839 --> 00:24:12.920
at this point, when she verifies that Lacy's not breathing,

422
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.359
you know, standard protocol would be to get her off

423
00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:18.160
the bed or the couch in this instance, because she

424
00:24:18.200 --> 00:24:20.559
needs to be on a flat surface so that CPR

425
00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:23.039
could be started immediately, and we usually ask it, do

426
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.119
you think that she's beyond resuscitation? I don't know exactly

427
00:24:26.119 --> 00:24:28.400
if that statement was ever said or not. I don't

428
00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:31.640
have that for you, but regardless, they were going to

429
00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:34.200
start CPR, which tells me they didn't feel like she

430
00:24:34.279 --> 00:24:38.759
was beyond resuscitation, and within literal seconds of identifying how

431
00:24:38.839 --> 00:24:42.880
serious the issue was, dispatchers would have an ambulance en

432
00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:45.359
route on the way to your house, which, by the way,

433
00:24:45.559 --> 00:24:48.680
the average response time is between seven and nine minutes

434
00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:52.680
for an ambulance or for police. That's like a national average.

435
00:24:53.160 --> 00:24:57.640
So when they arrived, the scene was nothing like the

436
00:24:57.720 --> 00:25:05.559
responders expected. Yes, the woman was clearly beyond any resuscitation.

437
00:25:07.640 --> 00:25:11.319
The coroner was going to be called out because she

438
00:25:11.480 --> 00:25:17.119
was dead. But everyone on scene immediately knew that something

439
00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:21.519
was wrong. And when I say wrong, way wrong. For starters,

440
00:25:21.640 --> 00:25:25.640
the home was pristine on the outside. This was a

441
00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:28.039
home where you could tell that the people who lived

442
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:31.799
there obviously cared about it. The yard was well manicured,

443
00:25:31.839 --> 00:25:36.519
it was clean, it was well kept. But inside the home,

444
00:25:36.839 --> 00:25:41.400
whenever they went into check on Lacy, it looked, I guess,

445
00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:48.359
like an average home. But the smell emanating from this

446
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:53.599
home was a stark contrast to the visual surroundings. They

447
00:25:53.640 --> 00:25:58.720
did not make sense. There were also flies everywhere in

448
00:25:58.759 --> 00:26:05.039
this home. Smell was an overwhelming smell of urine and

449
00:26:05.200 --> 00:26:12.880
feces combined with rot and decaying flesh. Nothing like a

450
00:26:13.000 --> 00:26:15.119
nursing home. I want to be clear. This is not

451
00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:16.599
like when you walk into a nursing home and it

452
00:26:16.599 --> 00:26:19.240
stinks from adult diapers and all that kind of stuff,

453
00:26:19.680 --> 00:26:25.319
not that this was legitimate filth and rotting flesh, a

454
00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:30.640
dead body round When they rounded the corner to the

455
00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:35.559
living room, there they found a couch. Now I'm about

456
00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:40.680
to get into some description here that is very direct,

457
00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:44.279
and it is not being salacious. It's the facts. But

458
00:26:44.519 --> 00:26:48.920
just prepare yourself. It was a brown leather couch, but

459
00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:54.319
in terrible condition, terrible, worse than anything you would see

460
00:26:54.319 --> 00:27:00.640
on the side of the road. Flies swarming this couch,

461
00:27:01.880 --> 00:27:08.079
swarming it. The wall behind the couch had droplets on it,

462
00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:11.880
like condensation droplets, I guess would be the best way

463
00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:15.160
to describe this to you, But the person on scene.

464
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:17.480
One person on the scene described it as almost having

465
00:27:18.039 --> 00:27:23.799
steam emanating from it. But it's believed that that steam

466
00:27:23.920 --> 00:27:26.960
that was causing those droplets was actually coming from the floor.

467
00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.799
So let me explain that to you. The floors in

468
00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:34.799
the house were wood. Under the couch was a towel

469
00:27:35.640 --> 00:27:41.000
that was soaked. When I say soaked, I mean completely

470
00:27:41.200 --> 00:27:46.000
and utterly soaked, unable to absorb anything else ever again,

471
00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:51.039
in its entire life, soaked in urine and caked up

472
00:27:51.559 --> 00:27:57.599
wet diarrhea, feces, And I'm not talking days of it.

473
00:27:57.920 --> 00:28:01.160
I'm not talking months of it. I'm not talking a

474
00:28:01.279 --> 00:28:07.240
year's worth of it. I'm talking many years of human excrement,

475
00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:11.720
so much on the wood floors that they literally were

476
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:16.400
buckled under the couch and the sheet rock was wet

477
00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:21.960
behind the couch. It was stunning, shocking at minimum, I

478
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:26.799
mean just pure filth, absolute pure filth. And as the

479
00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:31.440
responders approached the couch, the true shock would really expose

480
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:40.640
itself because there they found these severely malnourished, atrophied, and

481
00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:46.440
rotting body of thirty six year old Lacy Fletcher. So

482
00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:50.559
what in the world was going on here? Because according

483
00:28:50.599 --> 00:28:54.000
to the phone call just eight minutes prior, she had

484
00:28:54.039 --> 00:28:59.440
just stopped breathing, but she was looking like she was rotting.

485
00:29:00.480 --> 00:29:03.160
So the coroner gets there. His name is doctor Yule Bickham,

486
00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:06.880
and he arrived within minutes of being dispatched. And y'all,

487
00:29:06.920 --> 00:29:10.160
he's a well put together man. He's balding on top,

488
00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:12.920
but he still has that brown hair around the lower

489
00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:16.480
half of his head and he sports a white beard

490
00:29:17.160 --> 00:29:19.480
with little spots of brown in it. Just a well

491
00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:23.119
put together man and usually a man of little emotion.

492
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:27.839
Having worked death scenes for the past thirty years he's

493
00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:31.640
been responding to them, but this time he was not

494
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:37.960
only stunned, but absolutely sickened by what he encountered. He

495
00:29:38.119 --> 00:29:42.279
was quoted as saying this was absolutely one hundred percent

496
00:29:42.720 --> 00:29:46.039
the worst thing that he had ever seen in thirty

497
00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:50.160
years of his career. And that says a lot. So

498
00:29:50.200 --> 00:29:51.799
I want you to listen to him explain this in

499
00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:52.759
his own words.

500
00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:56.319
It still bothers me to day. And like I said,

501
00:29:56.400 --> 00:30:00.359
I've seen every kind of death there is. I've seen

502
00:30:01.039 --> 00:30:05.039
elderly people die of natural causes. I've seen suicides, homicides,

503
00:30:05.079 --> 00:30:10.160
I've seen everything there is. I've never seen a homicide

504
00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:13.000
like this. I have never seen an individual, a human

505
00:30:13.039 --> 00:30:21.680
being literally tortured and allowed to die while she is alive.

506
00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:26.000
So when he looked at that body of Lacey Fletcher,

507
00:30:27.000 --> 00:30:29.640
it wasn't a thirty six year old woman who laid

508
00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:33.839
down for a nap and just passed away unexpectedly. And

509
00:30:33.880 --> 00:30:36.920
I'll warn you this description I'm going to give you.

510
00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:39.359
I'm telling y'all it's accurate and its entirety, and this

511
00:30:39.400 --> 00:30:42.359
is again not to sensationalize it. This is the truth,

512
00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:47.319
and it is gut wrenching. First of all, it was

513
00:30:47.480 --> 00:30:53.200
clear that CPR had never been attempted, as it was

514
00:30:53.240 --> 00:30:56.319
directed by that nine to one dispatcher. And how do

515
00:30:56.400 --> 00:30:59.119
we know this because she was still on the couch

516
00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:02.680
or I guess I should rather say in the couch.

517
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.400
So I want to give you this visual. Imagine a couch.

518
00:31:07.400 --> 00:31:10.519
You're just looking at a regular couch, and there's three

519
00:31:10.559 --> 00:31:12.640
cushions right next to each other. The part that you

520
00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:17.559
seed on the seated portion, the left cushion was literally

521
00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:24.720
decayed like missing. It was there, but dugout. It had

522
00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:28.319
a huge hole in it, and it was down into

523
00:31:28.359 --> 00:31:30.599
that foam or where the foam should be. But the

524
00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:35.839
phone was now basically nonexistent, and the hole was basically

525
00:31:36.359 --> 00:31:41.160
a sewer where Lacey's bottom half of her body was

526
00:31:41.480 --> 00:31:50.640
submerged into it, urine, feces, flies, minstrel blood, whatever exited

527
00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:54.319
her body for the and are you ready for this

528
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.759
for the last twelve years, remember the twelve years no

529
00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:04.839
boy saw her for twelve years. Whatever had exited her

530
00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:09.759
body was soaked into and layered into that couch where

531
00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:16.359
Lacey's body had melted and literally fused into the couch.

532
00:32:16.799 --> 00:32:26.240
But she was alive during this entire time. Understand this.

533
00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:29.920
She didn't just die and this was a rotting body

534
00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:32.039
that was found. No, that's not what I'm telling you.

535
00:32:32.359 --> 00:32:36.599
She had been alive, suffering and unable to move at

536
00:32:36.640 --> 00:32:40.319
the mercy of her parents for food or water or

537
00:32:40.359 --> 00:32:44.079
any care that could have been taken of her. She

538
00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:46.920
was naked other than this shirt. I think it was

539
00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:49.920
blue and white striped, other than this shirt, but it

540
00:32:49.960 --> 00:32:52.640
was pulled up where her breasts were exposed. But she

541
00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:57.279
was naked from there down, and she only weighed ninety

542
00:32:57.319 --> 00:33:04.880
six pounds, very imaciated and in horrible condition physically. Now

543
00:33:04.920 --> 00:33:08.759
her legs were crossed, imagined in like an Indian style,

544
00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:13.680
but she had suffered what is called constrictor for a

545
00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:17.519
very long time, much longer than this day. So what

546
00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:20.599
happened was she had drawn her legs up into this

547
00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:24.359
Indian style position and then the muscle mass just went away.

548
00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:27.799
They became super stiff and basically locked in that position.

549
00:33:28.160 --> 00:33:32.599
She couldn't move them, and so they were drawn up

550
00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:35.319
and pulled up under her elbows, almost in like a

551
00:33:35.359 --> 00:33:40.000
fetal position. But her legs were crossed, and the doctor,

552
00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:43.599
the coroner believed that this happened because she was trying

553
00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:46.119
when she still had enough energy to do it. She

554
00:33:46.240 --> 00:33:49.519
was trying to pull her knees up in pain, trying

555
00:33:49.559 --> 00:33:52.640
to readjust as she was sinking down into that hole

556
00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:56.160
full of wet feces which was burning her skin and

557
00:33:56.200 --> 00:33:59.200
then causing these massive opened wounds. It was her only

558
00:33:59.240 --> 00:34:01.559
attempt to try to get up and out of it.

559
00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:07.319
And the wounds, y'all, were full of maggots while she

560
00:34:07.480 --> 00:34:11.320
was alive. These were not post mortem. These wounds were

561
00:34:11.400 --> 00:34:15.880
full of maggots that fed on her for years while

562
00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:19.719
she was still alive. It was not an after death event.

563
00:34:20.920 --> 00:34:25.519
There were mouse droppings all over the area. There were flies, larva,

564
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.679
and maggots that were not new. This was a circle

565
00:34:29.719 --> 00:34:34.639
of life happening in her body. Her eyes and her

566
00:34:34.679 --> 00:34:37.719
mouth were wide open when they went into the house.

567
00:34:37.719 --> 00:34:39.920
It wasn't like she closed her eyes and peacefully went away.

568
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.599
She died with the look of horror on her face,

569
00:34:43.639 --> 00:34:48.280
and she was covered in feces, human feces from head

570
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:54.280
to toe. Her post mortem photos, when you look at her,

571
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:59.599
she's covered in what looks like black. It likes it's

572
00:34:59.679 --> 00:35:02.000
kind of like like a mud mixture that looks like

573
00:35:02.039 --> 00:35:03.960
Think about a kid playing out in the mud and

574
00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:07.960
then it kind of dries. She's covered in it. She

575
00:35:08.079 --> 00:35:13.800
had feces underneath her fingernails, it was matted all in

576
00:35:13.840 --> 00:35:16.960
her hair, which also, by the way, was full of maggots.

577
00:35:17.920 --> 00:35:21.960
She had shit all over her face, all over her abdomen.

578
00:35:23.039 --> 00:35:28.440
She had open wounds, massive bed sores that clearly had

579
00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:31.280
not been tended to, and she had just been sitting

580
00:35:31.320 --> 00:35:35.800
down in the sludge of fecal matter and urine and

581
00:35:35.800 --> 00:35:39.719
god knows what with open bed sores that were just

582
00:35:39.840 --> 00:35:44.760
eating away, burning and melting her skin day in day out,

583
00:35:44.800 --> 00:35:48.320
minute by minute. And there were multiple skin ulcers that

584
00:35:48.360 --> 00:35:51.079
had developed on her body. One was on her lower

585
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:55.639
left side basically from not moving all those years, and

586
00:35:55.719 --> 00:35:59.599
one was on her tailbone, which you remember was submerged

587
00:35:59.639 --> 00:36:03.159
down in the sludge, and it went all the way

588
00:36:03.440 --> 00:36:07.760
to her actual bone. She had a massive hole in

589
00:36:07.880 --> 00:36:12.920
her bottom side. I mean, imagine how painful, how painful

590
00:36:12.960 --> 00:36:15.119
not only a bed sore is, but to have it

591
00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:18.000
sitting down in feces and urine. It makes me think

592
00:36:18.039 --> 00:36:21.000
about a baby in a diaper that hasn't been changed,

593
00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:25.039
that burning, red and flamed rash that a baby gets.

594
00:36:25.079 --> 00:36:28.519
It's so painful. I mean, it's just unconscionable to think

595
00:36:28.559 --> 00:36:32.159
about a human being experiencing this for let alone an

596
00:36:32.159 --> 00:36:37.079
hour years of sitting in this and to tell you

597
00:36:37.119 --> 00:36:39.360
how long she had been sitting there, if there's any question,

598
00:36:39.679 --> 00:36:43.480
her tailbone was completely flattened from the pressure of her

599
00:36:43.480 --> 00:36:48.800
body weight and rubbing the couch. How long do you

600
00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:52.800
have to lay there in this situation for your tailbone

601
00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:56.960
to flatten? You do the math on that one. The

602
00:36:57.000 --> 00:36:59.239
other sore that went all the way to the bone

603
00:36:59.440 --> 00:37:02.840
was in her head, and both of these wounds had

604
00:37:02.920 --> 00:37:07.840
eggs and maggots in them, so it wasn't new. Her

605
00:37:07.960 --> 00:37:11.239
ear was missing skin from the way that she had

606
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:13.159
been laying on the couch, so she was sunk down

607
00:37:13.159 --> 00:37:15.239
in it, and their head was to the side, so

608
00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:18.719
that ear where she was slumped over and where her head.

609
00:37:18.760 --> 00:37:21.239
She didn't have the energy or the muscle to move

610
00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:23.239
or pick her head up. All she could do was

611
00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:25.559
kind of rub her head back and forth on that couch,

612
00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:28.840
and so the skin was basically gone from her ear

613
00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:32.880
from the constant rubbing, and the leather was also gone.

614
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:36.360
The leather like the freaking skin of cow wears out

615
00:37:36.400 --> 00:37:39.719
in the sun. Every day. The leather was gone. It

616
00:37:39.760 --> 00:37:44.519
was rubbed down to the foam underneath her head. The

617
00:37:44.599 --> 00:37:48.800
wound was to the bone on her head. And then

618
00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:51.159
when the coroner was trying to lift her off of

619
00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:53.360
the couch, he couldn't even get her off of it

620
00:37:53.400 --> 00:37:58.239
because she literally was melted and fused to it. They

621
00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:02.320
had to peel her off of the couch, which removed

622
00:38:02.400 --> 00:38:05.320
all the skin from her backside. It just left you

623
00:38:05.320 --> 00:38:07.800
could just see the fat, the yellow fat on her back,

624
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:09.400
which she didn't really have any fat, but you could

625
00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:14.960
see the layer of just underneath of the skin. And

626
00:38:15.039 --> 00:38:18.760
she was so stiff that she remained in that tight

627
00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:21.480
bent posture, even in her body bag. They couldn't even

628
00:38:21.519 --> 00:38:26.239
lay her out. When they got her on the table

629
00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:32.920
to do her autopsy. Her hair was so matted with feces, which,

630
00:38:32.960 --> 00:38:36.039
by the way, the coroner usually will wash the person

631
00:38:36.039 --> 00:38:38.880
if they're dirty or nasty. They'll wash your hair, and

632
00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:40.920
then they want to measure your hair before they cut

633
00:38:40.920 --> 00:38:43.639
it off or they examine your brain. Her hair was

634
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:47.000
so matted they couldn't have brushed it if they wanted to,

635
00:38:47.119 --> 00:38:49.280
like it was not gonna happen. They could not get

636
00:38:49.320 --> 00:38:51.880
a comb through it. It was full of maggots and crap.

637
00:38:52.400 --> 00:38:54.960
So what they had to do was get a scalpel

638
00:38:55.239 --> 00:38:58.639
and peel her hair off with the scalpel, like cutting

639
00:38:58.639 --> 00:39:02.159
it and peeling her head off, they'd escalp her. She

640
00:39:02.159 --> 00:39:04.320
couldn't even have the decency of having her hair remain.

641
00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:08.599
And then when they really got to looking at her,

642
00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:13.519
this is just gut wrenching to me. There was fecal

643
00:39:13.559 --> 00:39:18.239
matter packed in her ears, It was all over her face,

644
00:39:18.360 --> 00:39:22.400
and y'all, it was in her mouth. It was beyond

645
00:39:22.519 --> 00:39:25.320
obvious that her teeth had not been cared for or

646
00:39:25.320 --> 00:39:30.519
brushed in God knows when and when the coroner checked

647
00:39:30.519 --> 00:39:34.440
the contents of her stomach to see what she had

648
00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:39.000
eaten last, all that was in her stomach that she

649
00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:44.519
had eaten was fecal matter and pieces of that couch

650
00:39:44.599 --> 00:39:50.920
cushion where her face was laying. Y'all, she lay there starving,

651
00:39:51.880 --> 00:39:56.599
and to attempt to live, she ate her own feces

652
00:39:56.679 --> 00:40:03.599
and couch cushion. I don't know what that desperation must

653
00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:07.320
feel like, and God, I hope I never do, but

654
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:13.320
that erupts an anger in me. That is not healthy.

655
00:40:15.159 --> 00:40:19.960
I mean, I I don't even know what the words

656
00:40:19.960 --> 00:40:28.639
are to even try to comprehend that, you know, that's unbelievable.

657
00:40:30.199 --> 00:40:34.320
And clearly this woman had been neglected on a level

658
00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:37.639
that not only can I not comprehend, but police were like,

659
00:40:37.719 --> 00:40:41.119
what the shit? And they wanted some answers, like now,

660
00:40:41.559 --> 00:40:46.400
right now. So when the Fletchers were asked, we need

661
00:40:46.440 --> 00:40:49.800
some answers here, how in the hell did she get

662
00:40:49.840 --> 00:40:54.079
to this point? How does this happen? Please? Do tell

663
00:40:54.159 --> 00:40:58.440
us how does this happen? The Fletchers were adamant that

664
00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:03.400
they loved their daughter and that they had cared for her, adamant,

665
00:41:03.599 --> 00:41:07.039
and they explained how her mental health had been declining

666
00:41:07.079 --> 00:41:09.360
for years and years and years, and that they had

667
00:41:09.400 --> 00:41:11.960
seen a doctor about it, but Lacey was continuing to

668
00:41:12.000 --> 00:41:17.239
give so much pushback about seeing him that she stopped going.

669
00:41:17.400 --> 00:41:20.159
And they alluded to her being in control of her

670
00:41:20.239 --> 00:41:23.159
life and that basically they were doing what she wanted.

671
00:41:23.679 --> 00:41:26.719
They were like, she's very controlling, very demanding, and so

672
00:41:26.800 --> 00:41:32.400
we just did what she wanted. Which I hope you're normal, Like, well,

673
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:34.400
I don't know if I'm normal, but hope where we

674
00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:37.360
can just kind of agree on like normal thinking and

675
00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:43.159
that that dog don't hunt forever that dog died. That

676
00:41:43.559 --> 00:41:48.880
can't be. There's no way you allow someone. Maybe in

677
00:41:48.920 --> 00:41:51.039
the beginning she might have been when she was still

678
00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:52.400
able to walk, she may have been hard to get

679
00:41:52.400 --> 00:41:56.039
along with, but at this point I'm not buying that.

680
00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:00.599
But they kept arguing that when her grandmother passed away,

681
00:42:00.639 --> 00:42:02.400
this would have been Clay's mom. This was in twenty

682
00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:05.800
twenty one. She died as a result of COVID. This

683
00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:08.199
was like a couple of months before Lacey died. And

684
00:42:08.320 --> 00:42:11.599
that's when Lacey got a new phobia, and she became

685
00:42:11.719 --> 00:42:15.360
overly obsessed with the fear of COVID and dying from COVID, which,

686
00:42:15.599 --> 00:42:17.559
by the way, if that's true, that shows me Lacey

687
00:42:17.599 --> 00:42:20.519
didn't want to die. If she's afraid of dying, just

688
00:42:20.519 --> 00:42:24.239
want to throw that out there. So she had become

689
00:42:24.280 --> 00:42:26.760
so obsessed with it that she was forcing her parents

690
00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:29.440
to double mask when they were around her, and they

691
00:42:29.440 --> 00:42:31.960
would have to double their gloves to be around her,

692
00:42:32.159 --> 00:42:34.039
and they were like and she wanted her her temperature

693
00:42:34.039 --> 00:42:35.599
taken twice a day every day to see if she

694
00:42:35.639 --> 00:42:38.679
was even spiking a fever. But my issue with that is,

695
00:42:38.760 --> 00:42:40.840
even if it may be true, I won't discount that

696
00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:43.679
maybe that maybe they were double gloving and double masking,

697
00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:46.239
but you're the friggin' adult in the home and it's

698
00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:50.559
your damn house. She can't be the boss from a

699
00:42:50.639 --> 00:42:54.480
shit covered couch, and to claim that is just absurd.

700
00:42:55.639 --> 00:42:59.039
It's just borderline stupidity to argue that a girl covered

701
00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:01.920
in her own thess is running your household, someone who

702
00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:04.000
never gets off of a couch. It makes me think

703
00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:06.280
of people who call nine to one one when their

704
00:43:06.360 --> 00:43:08.320
five year old won't go to school, Like, what are

705
00:43:08.360 --> 00:43:11.159
you doing? You snatch their ass up and you be

706
00:43:11.320 --> 00:43:14.679
the damn parent. I don't care how old the person is.

707
00:43:15.599 --> 00:43:17.960
What do you mean that a person who's clearly suffering

708
00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:27.639
mental illness is running your household? No? Absolutely not. When

709
00:43:27.679 --> 00:43:31.760
Sheila was asked about all of this, she claimed that

710
00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:34.599
she had been driving home for lunch every day for

711
00:43:34.679 --> 00:43:37.679
the last twelve years, just to eat lunch with Lacey.

712
00:43:37.840 --> 00:43:41.199
She said, I'll bring her whatever she wanted. She would

713
00:43:41.199 --> 00:43:43.199
sit down, They pulled up TV trays together, they would

714
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:45.880
eat lunch together. She said, I would change her. I

715
00:43:45.920 --> 00:43:49.159
cleaned the towel that was underneath her, which even that

716
00:43:49.360 --> 00:43:51.719
is weird to me. Once you are refusing to use

717
00:43:51.719 --> 00:43:54.920
a toilet and you're shitting on a towel on a couch,

718
00:43:55.320 --> 00:44:00.480
that's a red flag. You're if my dog jumped up

719
00:44:00.480 --> 00:44:03.320
on my couch and pooped on it, hell is going

720
00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:06.559
to be paid. You know what I mean? You don't

721
00:44:06.599 --> 00:44:09.000
poop on my couch, and I only would expect an

722
00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:12.400
animal to do so on a bad day, not a

723
00:44:12.480 --> 00:44:17.320
human being. And something I have to bring up here though,

724
00:44:18.159 --> 00:44:20.400
is that I'm like, Okay, well, maybe this was true

725
00:44:20.599 --> 00:44:23.039
in the beginning, but there's no way that this has

726
00:44:23.079 --> 00:44:25.039
been true the last few months. But we have to

727
00:44:25.079 --> 00:44:27.719
note something. She had to have been getting food and

728
00:44:27.840 --> 00:44:31.599
drinks somehow, because she was able to continually defecate everywhere,

729
00:44:31.880 --> 00:44:34.840
and so she had to have been eating at some point,

730
00:44:35.239 --> 00:44:37.840
But you cannot convince me that this had been consistent

731
00:44:37.960 --> 00:44:42.719
up through her death. No way. She also claimed that

732
00:44:42.920 --> 00:44:45.559
she had fed Lacey a sandwich and a bag of

733
00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:48.679
Cheetos the night before she died. But you and I

734
00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:51.519
both know that that can't be true, because if it was,

735
00:44:51.840 --> 00:44:55.000
then there would have been more than feces and couch

736
00:44:55.039 --> 00:44:58.719
cushion in her daughter's stomach at her autopsy. It's a

737
00:44:58.760 --> 00:45:03.760
lie out didn't happen. And the reason I don't think

738
00:45:03.800 --> 00:45:07.440
it happened is because they were out of town. Remember,

739
00:45:07.480 --> 00:45:10.480
they did their little getaway for the New Year, while

740
00:45:10.559 --> 00:45:15.679
she lay there dying and suffering and starving on a

741
00:45:15.800 --> 00:45:23.079
couch not fit for a maggot to live on. It

742
00:45:23.119 --> 00:45:25.880
would then be realized through their investigation that the parents

743
00:45:25.880 --> 00:45:29.599
had also been going to therapy sessions since her passing,

744
00:45:31.000 --> 00:45:34.599
and some time had gone by here obviously, I don't

745
00:45:34.599 --> 00:45:36.760
mean the next day, but they were going to a

746
00:45:36.800 --> 00:45:40.280
therapist after she died, and the therapist, one question, said

747
00:45:40.280 --> 00:45:43.079
that he felt like they were very genuine in the

748
00:45:43.079 --> 00:45:48.199
grief they were having for their daughter. They felt very

749
00:45:48.639 --> 00:45:51.079
genuinely disturbed that they had lost their daughter, and they

750
00:45:51.079 --> 00:45:53.360
would always say how much they loved her, and so

751
00:45:53.639 --> 00:45:56.280
it just doesn't compute. I don't understand the two. So

752
00:45:56.400 --> 00:45:59.159
the psychologist or the therapist said that he felt like

753
00:45:59.239 --> 00:46:03.159
they were suffering greatly from what is called compassion fatigue.

754
00:46:03.639 --> 00:46:05.320
So I did look this up. I mean, I know

755
00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:07.599
what it is, but I wanted to give the legitimate,

756
00:46:07.719 --> 00:46:10.559
I guess, you know, professional answer to this, and so

757
00:46:10.599 --> 00:46:12.639
I looked it up on the National Library of medicine,

758
00:46:12.719 --> 00:46:17.320
and they describe it as compassion fatigue manifests itself with

759
00:46:17.480 --> 00:46:20.480
classic symptoms, meaning people who have this usually have the

760
00:46:20.519 --> 00:46:24.800
same symptoms, a decline and the ability to feel sympathy

761
00:46:25.239 --> 00:46:30.559
and empathy. Thus they lose compassion. So sympathy is saying

762
00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:38.400
I care about your suffering, Empathy is I feel you're suffering,

763
00:46:38.679 --> 00:46:41.599
like I've been there, I feel your suffering, And compassion

764
00:46:42.119 --> 00:46:45.599
is when you say I want to relieve your suffering.

765
00:46:46.679 --> 00:46:51.519
So with compassion fatigue, the caring, the feeling, and thus

766
00:46:51.599 --> 00:46:57.000
the acts of compassion decline, and so the caretaker has

767
00:46:57.079 --> 00:47:01.800
this impassive detachedness to what is going on. And so

768
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:04.519
once this happens, when you start losing you know, you

769
00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:08.199
get fatigued, and you lose compassion. There starts being a

770
00:47:08.199 --> 00:47:14.280
great deal of negative emotions. Some of those include anger, annoyance, intolerance,

771
00:47:14.440 --> 00:47:20.880
and outright resentfulness of that person. So if this is true,

772
00:47:21.000 --> 00:47:22.880
and it does sound like it could fit, maybe they

773
00:47:22.920 --> 00:47:26.800
got so aggravated with her that they lost compassion. But

774
00:47:27.119 --> 00:47:32.599
holy crap, Holy crap, I've lost compassion for people knuckleheads

775
00:47:32.599 --> 00:47:34.199
who can't get it right, and they just keep going

776
00:47:34.199 --> 00:47:35.840
back to jail over and over again. Okay, I get it,

777
00:47:35.880 --> 00:47:39.159
I'll lose compassion for your stupidity. But this is not stupidity.

778
00:47:39.280 --> 00:47:42.920
This is someone in mental crisis. You don't have the

779
00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:47.320
luxury of having compassion loss, especially when it's your child.

780
00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:51.599
You don't get that luxury. So, if it's true, had

781
00:47:51.639 --> 00:47:55.519
the Fletcher's basically just gotten so frustrated taking care of

782
00:47:55.559 --> 00:47:59.360
her to the point that they just gave up, well,

783
00:48:00.960 --> 00:48:05.159
photos of the home would indicate that items that were

784
00:48:05.239 --> 00:48:09.400
necessary for care were near Lacey. What do I mean

785
00:48:09.400 --> 00:48:11.719
by that? There was a fresh set of clothes, clean

786
00:48:11.760 --> 00:48:14.880
clothes next to her, a cell phone, There were like

787
00:48:15.079 --> 00:48:18.480
adult wipes or baby wipes, and some other items that

788
00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:22.000
were needed for like wound care and stuff like that,

789
00:48:23.039 --> 00:48:27.920
but they obviously were not used like ever in the

790
00:48:27.960 --> 00:48:31.679
most recent history. The condition of her body tells you that.

791
00:48:33.119 --> 00:48:35.239
So it makes you kind of begs the question, did

792
00:48:35.239 --> 00:48:38.079
they just put it there for Lacey to use on

793
00:48:38.119 --> 00:48:41.159
herself even though they know she's not able to Because

794
00:48:41.159 --> 00:48:45.280
if that's true, she obviously was unable to do it

795
00:48:45.320 --> 00:48:48.280
for herself. She couldn't make a phone call for help,

796
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:52.079
She couldn't even get up. Her skin was fused to

797
00:48:52.199 --> 00:48:56.239
the sewer filled couch. She couldn't wipe herself. And y'all

798
00:48:56.280 --> 00:48:59.599
they lived their day in and day out passing her

799
00:48:59.599 --> 00:49:04.440
looking like that. And if the items that were there

800
00:49:05.559 --> 00:49:08.320
were being claimed to be used by the parents, that's

801
00:49:08.360 --> 00:49:11.360
a damn lie. There's no way they were using those.

802
00:49:11.880 --> 00:49:19.599
Look at her. Don't let stupidity outsmart your intelligence. Her

803
00:49:19.679 --> 00:49:24.119
mental state. When she first was diagnosed, her mother believed

804
00:49:24.199 --> 00:49:27.679
that she had as Burgers, but then later on says

805
00:49:27.719 --> 00:49:30.480
that she was upgraded to that more severe autism, so

806
00:49:30.599 --> 00:49:33.400
that like level two. But by the time of her death,

807
00:49:34.000 --> 00:49:39.320
she obviously was at a level three autism, completely unable

808
00:49:39.360 --> 00:49:42.800
to care for herself in any fashion. So did they

809
00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:47.079
just ignore her mental state or were they seriously that

810
00:49:47.280 --> 00:49:51.599
unaware that she was grossly incapable of taking care of herself.

811
00:49:51.760 --> 00:49:54.800
And if you hear the anger in my voice, it's

812
00:49:54.840 --> 00:50:00.159
because either way, this level of ignorance is criminal. You

813
00:50:00.199 --> 00:50:03.280
don't get to be that stupid. We don't allow people

814
00:50:03.320 --> 00:50:06.920
to drunk drive, and if you do, you know better,

815
00:50:08.199 --> 00:50:11.360
we will not allow and we cannot allow a society

816
00:50:11.360 --> 00:50:12.800
that says, you know what, we've been taking care of

817
00:50:12.800 --> 00:50:15.119
for so long. We're frustrated and so we just stopped

818
00:50:15.119 --> 00:50:21.440
and let her die. I would not let my worst

819
00:50:21.719 --> 00:50:28.639
enemy die that way ever, ever, because we have humanity

820
00:50:28.920 --> 00:50:32.239
and we can't lose it. And this is when the

821
00:50:32.280 --> 00:50:37.039
Fletchers made their biggest claim yet. Their overall statement was

822
00:50:37.079 --> 00:50:41.760
that they were doing quote what Lacey wanted, and we're

823
00:50:41.840 --> 00:50:45.679
following her wishes because she was an adult and she

824
00:50:45.840 --> 00:50:50.239
was old enough to decide for herself. And that is

825
00:50:50.280 --> 00:50:52.719
just unbelievable to me. It makes I just want to

826
00:50:52.719 --> 00:50:54.320
throw my hands up in the air, like, what the fuck.

827
00:50:55.519 --> 00:50:59.599
You can't be that dumb. I won't allow it. You

828
00:50:59.599 --> 00:51:05.599
can't be an Alderman and be that dumb. Even crazier,

829
00:51:06.320 --> 00:51:09.599
add this to your bucket of crazy. When asked if

830
00:51:09.639 --> 00:51:13.920
they had life insurance on her, guess what, they didn't.

831
00:51:14.480 --> 00:51:16.960
Wouldn't you think that'd be a motive to let someone

832
00:51:17.000 --> 00:51:20.880
just die like that, but they didn't have it. When

833
00:51:20.920 --> 00:51:23.039
asked if they were getting money from the state because

834
00:51:23.039 --> 00:51:25.639
of her condition or some type of you know, funding

835
00:51:25.719 --> 00:51:30.239
or anything, Nope, they weren't getting caregiver funds or anything

836
00:51:30.320 --> 00:51:33.079
like that. They were getting nothing for her, So the

837
00:51:33.119 --> 00:51:39.480
motive of money isn't there. It doesn't make sense. None

838
00:51:39.519 --> 00:51:44.880
of it makes sense. The Fletchers also were church going folks.

839
00:51:45.960 --> 00:51:48.960
So when the Fletchers were arrested months later, I think

840
00:51:48.960 --> 00:51:50.760
it was like eight months later. They were arrested in May,

841
00:51:51.599 --> 00:51:55.760
and the word began to spread about their daughter's deplorable

842
00:51:55.800 --> 00:52:01.400
condition in that home. Church goers and coworkers of theirs

843
00:52:01.840 --> 00:52:05.679
started scratching their heads and started talking amongst theirselves because

844
00:52:05.679 --> 00:52:08.400
they were shocked, not just because of.

845
00:52:08.800 --> 00:52:11.760
The arrest, but because they didn't even know she had

846
00:52:11.800 --> 00:52:16.000
a daughter, or that Claire Shell had a daughter. How

847
00:52:17.079 --> 00:52:20.599
how do you not mention your daughter, your only daughter?

848
00:52:20.920 --> 00:52:22.440
How do you never mention her?

849
00:52:23.079 --> 00:52:29.079
Ever? That alone is disturbing and quite sad that the

850
00:52:29.119 --> 00:52:31.400
people you went to church with didn't even know you

851
00:52:31.440 --> 00:52:34.599
had a child. I don't care. She's thirty six, y'all.

852
00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:36.519
I could be one hundred and thirty six, My kids

853
00:52:36.559 --> 00:52:38.559
could be one hundred. I'm still their mama, and they're

854
00:52:38.559 --> 00:52:43.760
still my babies. It'll never change. Ever. What about Lacey.

855
00:52:43.880 --> 00:52:47.679
You know that same old teacher that all those years ago,

856
00:52:47.960 --> 00:52:52.199
that same old teacher of Lacey's thought so much of

857
00:52:52.280 --> 00:52:56.440
Lacey that she came busting forward in this event, and

858
00:52:56.519 --> 00:53:00.760
she was full of anger. She had told the Fletchers

859
00:53:01.079 --> 00:53:05.199
of Lacey's increasing struggles, and she felt back then, like

860
00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:08.639
she obviously did right now, that they ignored her. And

861
00:53:08.719 --> 00:53:11.679
she felt like, and I'm almost inclined to believe her here,

862
00:53:12.480 --> 00:53:15.559
She felt like even back then that they would not

863
00:53:15.599 --> 00:53:18.920
acknowledge her struggles because they were embarrassed of her. They

864
00:53:18.920 --> 00:53:21.159
were embarrassed of what she was doing and not acting

865
00:53:21.239 --> 00:53:25.000
quote unquote normal. And so she was beyond this. Teacher

866
00:53:25.119 --> 00:53:28.360
was beyond disturbed when she found out that church members

867
00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:32.400
showed up in support of the Fletcher parents when they

868
00:53:32.519 --> 00:53:34.960
finally went to court. And I've got to tell you,

869
00:53:35.039 --> 00:53:38.159
I agree. How can you go How can you go

870
00:53:38.199 --> 00:53:41.800
to church every Sunday and listen to the gospel, the

871
00:53:42.000 --> 00:53:46.199
true word of the Man himself, and go home to

872
00:53:46.280 --> 00:53:50.960
your daughter in that condition? Because you can't. You cannot.

873
00:53:51.159 --> 00:53:55.719
You cannot be a believer and think that that is okay. Ever,

874
00:53:55.960 --> 00:53:57.960
and I'm standing on business when I tell you that

875
00:53:58.679 --> 00:54:01.320
you can have compassion even they didn't, and you can

876
00:54:01.360 --> 00:54:04.000
have your heart can hurt because you loved those people.

877
00:54:04.199 --> 00:54:07.719
But when it comes down to it, this is not acceptable,

878
00:54:09.199 --> 00:54:12.360
no freaking way. And then to never mention your daughter ever.

879
00:54:13.440 --> 00:54:16.960
I have friends whose children have died at birth. And

880
00:54:17.000 --> 00:54:19.960
I have friends whose children have been murdered, and they

881
00:54:20.039 --> 00:54:24.239
never stop talking about them ever, And they're never going

882
00:54:24.280 --> 00:54:27.960
to shout out to my friend Ronda Champagne. Y'all know Ronda. Ronda,

883
00:54:28.079 --> 00:54:31.079
her two children were murdered in a previous episode. She's

884
00:54:31.119 --> 00:54:34.440
a good friend of mine, and she's never stopped talking

885
00:54:34.480 --> 00:54:37.159
about those kids and she never will. You know why,

886
00:54:37.199 --> 00:54:41.960
they're her children. She celebrates their birthdays at their grave site,

887
00:54:42.039 --> 00:54:44.480
you know why, because she's a good mama, and she's

888
00:54:44.519 --> 00:54:46.559
never given up on them, even if they're not here

889
00:54:46.599 --> 00:54:54.079
on earth. And these people never mentioned Lacey. What about Lacey, y'all?

890
00:54:54.960 --> 00:55:00.760
She suffered greatly, horrifically damn near torture for twelve years,

891
00:55:00.800 --> 00:55:03.079
and somehow people are going to act like that's okay.

892
00:55:03.280 --> 00:55:07.400
It's unbelievable, because you can be stupid, you can be

893
00:55:07.440 --> 00:55:12.039
a moron, but you can't be that and criminally neglectful

894
00:55:12.079 --> 00:55:15.880
of a human being. And the level that their daughter

895
00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:24.320
suffered and then ultimately died is inexcusable. It can't be excused, y'all.

896
00:55:24.360 --> 00:55:27.119
I watched this coroner, the one that responded to this scene,

897
00:55:27.159 --> 00:55:30.679
in multiple interviews and multiple writings, and that man literally

898
00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:33.519
broke down and cried. A man that didn't even know her,

899
00:55:33.719 --> 00:55:35.760
a man that wasn't there when she was born, or

900
00:55:35.840 --> 00:55:37.920
watched her grow up in school, or went to her

901
00:55:38.000 --> 00:55:41.280
volleyball games or supported her. Ever, he only met her

902
00:55:41.320 --> 00:55:43.320
dead in a couch with shit all over her, and

903
00:55:43.360 --> 00:55:48.159
that man broke down and cried talking about it. He

904
00:55:48.239 --> 00:55:50.760
said that he was unable to eat or sleep for

905
00:55:50.920 --> 00:55:53.880
weeks after he picked up her little body. He was

906
00:55:53.960 --> 00:55:56.480
that devastated by her condition. And this is from a

907
00:55:56.519 --> 00:55:58.920
man who does this for a living and has done

908
00:55:58.920 --> 00:56:04.760
it for thirty year years. So why Lacey Fletcher met

909
00:56:04.760 --> 00:56:08.559
her demise the way that she did it still remains unanswered.

910
00:56:08.719 --> 00:56:12.679
There are no answers to this. Her parents continue to

911
00:56:12.719 --> 00:56:16.840
maintain that they loved her and would eventually plead no

912
00:56:17.000 --> 00:56:23.480
contest to manslaughter charges, and they were sentenced to forty

913
00:56:23.559 --> 00:56:27.599
years each, with twenty years of those being suspended, which

914
00:56:27.599 --> 00:56:31.039
means basically not enforced unless they reoffend. So either way,

915
00:56:31.280 --> 00:56:33.400
these parents were both in their late sixties when they

916
00:56:33.440 --> 00:56:36.079
were sentenced, and so they'll be in their late eighties

917
00:56:36.760 --> 00:56:40.760
if they fulfill their sentence and are released. But this

918
00:56:40.920 --> 00:56:44.840
much I know I wouldn't let an animal suffer the

919
00:56:44.840 --> 00:56:49.280
way they let their only daughter suffer. Regardless of the

920
00:56:49.320 --> 00:56:51.880
pushback she may have given, she should have been placed

921
00:56:51.880 --> 00:56:55.880
in a facility to receive the proper and ethical care

922
00:56:56.519 --> 00:57:01.480
that she deserved as a human being. Failure to do something, y'all,

923
00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:05.480
it's a choice. Failure to act is also a choice,

924
00:57:05.559 --> 00:57:08.400
and for that they deserve the time that they got,

925
00:57:08.679 --> 00:57:12.599
if not more. And while they were out on their

926
00:57:12.599 --> 00:57:17.320
getaways and enjoying their days for the last twelve years,

927
00:57:17.559 --> 00:57:21.639
Lacey was in full decline, refused to a couch, eating

928
00:57:21.840 --> 00:57:26.199
her own shit. They didn't even try to clean her

929
00:57:26.239 --> 00:57:29.400
face up for responders, they didn't even try to clean

930
00:57:29.440 --> 00:57:32.639
her up. I don't feel sorry for them, And if

931
00:57:32.639 --> 00:57:34.639
that's love, all I can tell you is no thank you.

932
00:57:36.360 --> 00:57:41.280
She deserved love, care, and continuous compassion, which it's clear

933
00:57:41.639 --> 00:57:44.840
was not happening. And just because she's dead right now

934
00:57:45.320 --> 00:57:48.760
doesn't make this offense any less. Just because she can't

935
00:57:48.800 --> 00:57:51.360
speak and tell you how bad of a time she

936
00:57:51.400 --> 00:57:54.599
was having, which is to put it lightly, does not

937
00:57:54.760 --> 00:57:59.400
make it any less. We have to as a society

938
00:57:59.639 --> 00:58:03.960
speak for these people, even when the parents are the

939
00:58:03.960 --> 00:58:08.480
ones that created the problem, and the sheer agony of

940
00:58:08.559 --> 00:58:11.840
the wounds and her laying in sewage for years tells

941
00:58:11.880 --> 00:58:17.280
me everything I need to know. Excuses be damned. If

942
00:58:17.280 --> 00:58:19.039
you were tired of caring for her, then get her

943
00:58:19.079 --> 00:58:21.440
some help. And also, don't ask me will Kelly was

944
00:58:21.440 --> 00:58:23.400
it because they couldn't afford it. Don't even come at

945
00:58:23.400 --> 00:58:26.320
me with that bullshit, because there's a million programs out

946
00:58:26.320 --> 00:58:28.880
there to help assist people. As well as the fact

947
00:58:28.880 --> 00:58:30.760
that I'd like to point this out, they were able

948
00:58:30.800 --> 00:58:36.960
to post seventy five thousand dollars cash bond to save

949
00:58:37.000 --> 00:58:39.679
themselves from sitting in a jail, which, by the way,

950
00:58:39.719 --> 00:58:43.119
the jail provided clean sheets and laundered clothes and toilets

951
00:58:43.119 --> 00:58:46.320
that worked much more than their daughter was being provided.

952
00:58:46.480 --> 00:58:50.199
But they didn't want that discomfort. Give me a break.

953
00:58:50.800 --> 00:58:54.360
This is more than incompetence. This is criminal. So, regardless

954
00:58:54.360 --> 00:58:58.199
of why this happened, regardless of any psychologist's belief of

955
00:58:58.239 --> 00:59:02.760
their burnout as caretakers, to treat a human being this way,

956
00:59:02.960 --> 00:59:06.440
your daughter, nonetheless, and to leave her in a state

957
00:59:06.519 --> 00:59:11.159
of such filth, to me, is the ultimate disrespect. And

958
00:59:11.199 --> 00:59:13.840
the whole key to this story is that Disrespect on

959
00:59:13.920 --> 00:59:17.679
this level should close doors that no apology can never open.