Stepmom who ‘killed Gannon Stauch’, 11, compares herself to war vet suffering PTSD as she describes life behind bars
GANNON Stauch's step-mother who’s accused of murdering him has compared herself to a war veteran suffering from PTSD.
Speaking from El Paso County Jail in Colorado Springs, Letecia Stauch revealed her trauma as she faces trial for killing the 11-year-old boy.
In an interview with CrimeOnline, Staunch said her life has been turned upside down throughout most of the year, indicating that she may be experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She said: “I’m not trying to knock anyone that’s been in war or anything like that, but people handle situations differently.”
Stauch is currently being housed in a section of the prison, where inmates receiving mental health services live.
Stauch is accused of killing Gannon in his bedroom, where authorities found blood that had seeped through a rug and carpet pad before staining the concrete below, and of disposing of his body in Douglas County.
She denies the allegation.
If the judge decides that the prosecution did not provide enough for evidence for presumed guilt, Stauch could be allowed to apply for a bond.
Gannon was violently bludgeoned to death in his bedroom hours before he was reported missing, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Sun.
That affidavit, filed by a detective in the El Paso County Sheriff’s Department, alleges that the boy’s stepmother Letecia then went about cleaning the murder scene.
It was a violent crime according to the affidavit, and there was "blood spatter on the walls and enough blood loss to stain his mattress, soak through the carpet, the carpet pad and stain the concrete below his bed."
In the affidavit, the detective alleges that she then ordered Gannon’s younger sister Laina to play outside when she returned from school a short time later.
When Letecia’s own daughter returned home that day, she sent her to the Dollar Store according to the affidavit.
Once there, Leticia allegedly texted her daughter Harley asking for "carpet cleaner, trash bags and baking soda."
There is no suggestion in the affidavit that either sister knew what happened to her brother in the affidavit, but according to the affidavit, Laina provided an interview to police, and Harley has not yet done so.
Letecia reported missing soon after, but "her story dramatically changed multiple times over the following days” states the affidavit.
“Letecia lied to investigators on multiple occasions, has unexplained abnormal behavior such as obtaining a rental car, disconnecting her cell phone from the cellular network, the false reporting of an alleged rape, abnormal patterns of travel, a continuously evolving story with material changes in facts and circumstances and has since left the state of Colorado,” states the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, police believe that Letecia disposed of the body on the side of a nearby highway, but there are no details as to how Gannon’s body got from there to Florida.
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