• The opening statements of the stepmom murder trial were heard on Monday, April 3, 2023.
• Letecia Stauch has pleaded not guilty because of insanity in the murder of her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon. Stepmom faces multiple counts, including child abuse, first-degree murder, and tempering with evidence.
• Both the defense and prosecution brought the details of the stepmom’s murder trial. He was stabbed 18 times with a kitchen knife and shot in his room three times.
• Stauch killed her stepson, stuffed him in a suitcase, and drove almost 1,300 in order to dump his dead body off of a Florida bridge.
• Gannon’s murder trial began with jury selection on March 20. The trial is expected to last 6 to 8 weeks.

The opening statements of the stepmom murder trial were heard on Monday, April 3, 2023. 

In the trial, a woman was accused of murdering her stepson at their Colorado house and disposing of his dead body in Florida.

Letecia Stauch’s Charges and Plea

Letecia Stauch has pleaded not guilty because of insanity in the murder of her 11-year-old stepson, Gannon. Stepmom faces multiple counts, including child abuse, first-degree murder, and tempering with the evidence.

Prosecution’s Opening Statement and Gannon’s Image

The prosecution opened by presenting an image of an 11-year-old victim, Gannon Stauch.

The picture and the first words of the prosecution’s case immediately sent Gannon’s biological mother running out of the courtroom, overcome with emotion.

Both the defense and prosecution brought the details of the stepmom’s murder trial. He was stabbed 18 times with a kitchen knife and shot in his room three times.

The defense lawyer did not deny that Stauch, 39, killed her stepson, stuffed him in a suitcase, and drove almost 1,300 in order to dump his dead body off of a Florida bridge.

The two sides’ arguments differ regarding her sanity during the time of the murder.

The 4th Judicial District Attorney, Michael Allen, said, “All of her actions were purposely done by her to distance herself from what she did. To throw off investigators, buy her time, escape accountability for what she did to Gannon on January 27.”

Stepmom murder trial- The defense attorney claimed insanity

Letecia’s defense lawyer said that she was insane at the time of the murder. They said she has a fragmented personality rooted in trauma stemming from physical and s*xual abuse as a toddler.

Defense attorney Will Cook said, “First, it was just physical: beatings, whoopings, emotional abuse, physical abuse, and then it became s*xual. She was molested regularly from 5 or 6 on to when she was a teenager.”

Cook told the judge that his client’s mother was absent for much of her childhood and left Letecia in the care of boyfriends who physically and s*xually abused her.

Cook added that there was some psychological crack that led her to go from being a teacher, loving mother, and stepmother to becoming a killer of an 11-year-old. 

They also mentioned that she didn’t wake up that day with the intention to kill her stepson, Gannon Stauch.

Instead, she was murdering the devils in her life, in the deep depths of her childhood.

The prosecution will start presenting evidence today at 9 AM, Tuesday, April 4, 2023.

In January 2020, someone reported 11-year-old Gannon as missing, and his disappearance initiated a nationwide search.

On March 2, 2020, authorities caught Stauch in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and on March 18, they found the dead body of Gannon, her stepson, in Florida.

In the period of three years since Gannon’s murder, Stauch has changed her plea in the case. Initially, she pleaded not guilty but then changed her plea to not guilty because of insanity in February 2022.

Gannon murder trial began with jury selection on March 20. They expect the trial to last 6 to 8 weeks.