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Jury selection begins in Letecia Stauch trial

Stauch is accused of killing her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch in January 2020.
Credit: Family
Gannon Stauch,11, disappeared in January 2020. His remains were found months later in Florida.

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. — Jury selection began Monday morning in the case of an El Paso County woman accused of killing her stepson in 2020.

Seating a jury of 12 members and six alternates could take up to two weeks. Evidence presentation is expected to begin no earlier than April 3, and the trial is expected to last at least six weeks.

Gannon Stauch, 11, was reported missing from his Lorson Ranch neighborhood on Jan. 27, 2020. Prosecutors allege Letecia Stauch killed Gannon in his bedroom on that date.

During a preliminary hearing in September 2021, it was revealed that Letecia Stauch rented a Budget Rental van and then bought a cellphone in Trinidad in early February 2020.

In court testimony, data collected from the van showed it traveled from Colorado to Florida.

Gannon's remains were found stuffed inside a suitcase under a bridge in northwestern Florida in March 2020, about six weeks after Letecia Stauch's trip there. An autopsy showed Gannon had been shot and stabbed, and he appeared to have defensive wounds on his hands, according to court testimony.

Letecia Stauch has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the case. She faces numerous charges in the case including:

  • First-degree murder after deliberation
  • First-degree murder of a person under 12 by someone in a position of trust
  • Child abuse resulting in death
  • Tampering with a deceased human body
  • Tampering with physical evidence
  • Seven counts of a crime of violence for using a weapon (the weapons listed in the complaint include a firearm, blunt object and sharp object)
  • One count of crime of violence – causing severe bodily injury or death

The video below from March 2020 shows Letecia Stauch's first court appearance after her arrest in South Carolina:

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