DENVER – An El Paso County judge ruled Thursday that the case against Letecia Stauch, the Colorado Springs woman accused of murdering her stepson in January 2020, can proceed toward a trial.
District Judge Gregory Werner ruled there was probable cause for the case against Stauch, who is accused of killing 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, to proceed following a preliminary hearing earlier this month in which the court heard evidence from prosecutors and defense counsel in the case.
Stauch faces charges including first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with evidence and tampering with a deceased human body. She also faces multiple sentence enhancers.
Gannon Stauch was reported missing by Letecia Stauch on Jan. 27, 2020 – the day she allegedly killed the boy in his bedroom, according to police documents and prosecutors. She told police at the time Gannon had gone to play at a friend’s house and never returned.
She was arrested March 2 in connection with her stepson’s disappearance, and Gannon’s body was discovered in a suitcase by a construction worker on March 18 in Pace. Fla. underneath a bridge off the side of a highway.
Gannon died of a gunshot wound and skull fracture, an autopsy found, and prosecutors allege Letecia Stauch shot and stabbed the boy, then drove his body to an area off Colorado Highway 105 and South Perry Park Road and dumped it before later driving it to Florida. During the preliminary hearing earlier this month, investigators testified that a blood stain found underneath the carpet in Gannon’s bedroom had tested positive as belonging to the boy.
Prosecutors allege Stauch used a 9mm gun, which was found in the family’s home, to shoot and kill her stepson, and bedding found with Gannon’s body matched the bedding that had been in his room at the home in Lorson Ranch, they said during the hearing.
Stauch’s arrest affidavit says on the day Gannon Stauch disappeared, Letecia Stauch texted her daughter to buy carpet cleaning supplies, trash bags and baking soda, which prosecutors say were used to clean up the scene of the alleged crime.
Judge Werner set a plea hearing for Nov. 4, at which Stauch will be expected to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty. Fourth Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said after the hearing he expected Stauch to plead not guilty. Stauch will be held without bond until trial.