Judge tosses out murder charges for parents whose daughter died on rotting couch; DA seeks to re-indict

SLAUGHTER – A couple indicted for murder after their daughter was found “melted” into a couch covered in urine and feces has had their charges dropped for now. 

Sheila and Clay Fletcher’s charges for second-degree murder were tossed out by Judge Kathryn Jones due to an issue related to the language in the original charging documents. District Attorney Sam D’Aquilla tells WBRZ his office plans to present the case before a grand jury once again on June 19 to seek new indictments. 

The WBRZ Investigative Unit first exposed the case in April 2022. At the time, investigators said that 36-year-old Lacey Fletcher was left to rot on the sofa for so long that the floor beneath it had buckled due to the pooling urine.

The coroner’s office ultimately determined that starvation was a contributing factor in Lacey’s death.

Though the woman was found dead in January 2022, it would take months before criminal charges were brought against her parents, after WBRZ reported on the details surrounding her death. 

The couple was previously scheduled to go to trial this month.