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(NewsNation) — Dr. Ewell Bickham, the coroner who examined Lacey Fletcher after her body was found “melted” into a sofa, wants the graphic photos of Fletcher shown to the public.
The 36-year-old Louisiana woman was reportedly diagnosed with autism, and her parents claim they tried to feed her but she refused to eat, resulting in her inability to leave the couch and her subsequent death.
Shelia and Clay Fletcher pleaded “no contest” to reduced charges of manslaughter Monday in the death of their daughter, and they’ll be out on bond until Feb. 20.
Lacey was found dead, sitting in urine and feces after what prosecutors alleged was neglect from her parents, NewsNation affiliate WVLA reports. Investigators think she was left to wither away for at least 12 years.
Former coroner Bickham told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield he struggled to process what he witnessed.
‘I’ve seen every kind of death there is,” said during an appearance Thursday night on “Banfield.” “I’ve never seen a homicide like this. I have never seen a human being literally tortured and allowed to die while she is alive. I’ve never seen that my life. … Lacey did not decompose. She rotted in her own body, in that hole, in that sewer, in the couch.”
The next court hearing for the Fletchers is at the East Feliciana Courthouse on March 20.