2nd evaluation finds Letecia Stauch competent to stand trial for murder of stepson Gannon

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - After months on pause, the case against a woman accused of killing her stepson will be moving forward.

For the second time, a mental health evaluation found Letecia Stauch, 37, mentally fit to stand trial for the murder of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch.

An earlier evaluation over the summer had already found Letecia Stauch competent, but following that ruling, her defense team requested another evaluation.

Her next court date is March 11-12.

Jan. 27 will mark one year since Stauch reported Gannon missing, claiming to law enforcement the young boy had run away. She was arrested in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina exactly five weeks later and charged with first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, tampering with a deceased body, and tampering with evidence. Gannon’s remains were found in Florida in late March.

Since her arrest March 2, Stauch’s case has taken several twists and turns, starting with allegedly slipping out of her handcuffs in the back of her transport vehicle from South Carolina to Colorado and attacking a deputy. In May, her attorneys filed a pair of motions calling for her preliminary hearing to be pushed back, as well as possibly allowing the woman accused of killing her stepson to bond out of jail. The latter motion cited COVID-19 as a concern and suggested granting Stauch a bond “so that she is able to have video and phone access with counsel from the safety of her home.”

In June, Letecia was handed escape charges for allegedly plotting to break out of the El Paso County jail.

Now with this second competency ruling, the case appears back on track.

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