DENVER — The murder trial for Letecia Stauch, the Colorado Springs woman accused of murdering her stepson in January 2020, is set to begin in El Paso County this week.
Jury selection is scheduled to get underway Monday and it’s expected to take two weeks, with opening arguments scheduled for April 3, according to court documents.
Stauch has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity after changing her plea from not guilty in February of last year. It’s unclear if the court received a final report from the defense's sanity expert.
She faces charges including first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with evidence and tampering with a deceased human body for the killing of her stepson, 11-year-old Gannon Stauch.
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.
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.
Investigators said Letecia Stauch's internet history showed she wasn't happy with her marriage to Gannon's father and "had some degree of resentment towards the family as a step-parent," the affidavit said. She also had appeared to be researching a move to an apartment in another state, days before Gannon was killed.
Judge Greg Werner said two members of the press, one print and one electronic, will be allowed in the courtroom for jury selection only. Only audio recording will be allowed during this process. As of right now, no cameras will be allowed in the courtroom during the trial.
