Letecia Stauch will stand trial for murder of stepson Gannon

Warning: This article contains details about a crime against a child, which could be difficult to read.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Letecia Stauch will stand trial for the murder of her 11-year-old stepson.

A judge ruled Thursday that there is sufficient evidence against Stauch for the case to move forward. She will await her trial from jail.

This moment has been nearly two years coming for family and friends of Gannon Stauch, who disappeared from his Fountain, Colorado home in January 2020 and was found stuffed in a suitcase in Florida two months later. Investigators say the person responsible for shooting, stabbing and beating the young boy was his stepmother, 37-year-old Letecia Stauch.

Prosecutors laid out their case against Stauch in a preliminary hearing earlier this month, revealing details never before made public. Among these revelations: that law enforcement allegedly found blood-soaked furniture in the Stauch family home and a trail of blood leading from Gannon’s room to the garage; that a series of GPS signals from Stauch’s phone and vehicle allegedly showed how she was trying to find a spot to dump Gannon’s body, first in Colorado and then across the country; and findings from the autopsy which showed how Gannon was shot under the chin and beaten over the head, as well as stabbed multiple times and slashed in the arms.

Stauch declined to attend her prelim, and she again declined to be in the courtroom Thursday. The judge told her she will have to enter her guilty or not-guilty plea in person in November.

If, as expected, Stauch pleas not guilty, her trial will be sometime in 2022, 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen said.

Cameras were not allowed in court Thursday, but reporter Spencer Wilson live-tweeted from inside the courtroom. Read his updates below:

All previous coverage on the Stauch case can be found here. Some articles of interest include:

Letecia Stauch formally charged in Colorado murder case for 11-year-old Gannon

Authorities believe they found the remains of missing Colorado boy Gannon Stauch; stepmom faces new charges

New details in Gannon Stauch case; arrest papers leaked on social media

New arrest papers: Letecia Stauch hatched plot to escape from jail

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

Judge grants Letecia Stauch the right to represent herself in court

Letter to a judge from a woman suspected of killing her own stepson in Colorado was unsealed on Wednesday

Preliminary hearing for Letecia Stauch, accused of killing her stepson Gannon in Colorado, pushed back as she gets public defenders back

Preliminary hearing begins in case against woman accused of killing stepson (includes affidavit and live tweets from the Sept. 9 hearing by reporter Spencer Wilson)

Copyright 2021 KKTV. All rights reserved.