Gannon Stauch

Case background and investigation

Gannon Stauch, 11, was reported missing on January 27, 2020, from his family's home in the Lorson Ranch neighborhood near Colorado Springs, according to KRDO. Wikipedia's account of the case says his stepmother, Letecia Stauch, told authorities that he had left that afternoon to walk to a friend's house.

Investigators arrested Letecia Stauch on March 2, 2020, on a first-degree murder charge, Colorado Public Radio reported; Wikipedia gives the place of arrest as Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On March 17, 2020, Gannon's body was found in a suitcase under a bridge in the Florida Panhandle, according to KRDO, which reported that the autopsy documented a gunshot wound, stab wounds and a skull fracture. CBS News Colorado reported that prosecutors also presented evidence of Gannon's blood on a piece of particle board found in a rural area and on the defendant's shoe.

Stauch pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing that she had dissociative identity disorder. Her trial in El Paso County District Court, before Judge Gregory Werner, began in March 2023. On May 8, 2023, the jury rejected the insanity defense and found her guilty of first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder of a child under 12 by a person in a position of trust, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence, according to KRDO and CBS News Colorado. She was sentenced to life in prison without parole, with additional consecutive terms for the tampering counts.

On April 2, 2026, a division of the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed the convictions and ordered a new trial. The published opinion, People v. Stauch, 2026COA22, held that the trial court committed structural error when it denied a defense challenge for cause to a prospective juror who then deliberated. News reports identified the juror as the relative by marriage of a deputy district attorney in the office that prosecuted the case; Colorado law requires removal of jurors related within the third degree to an attorney in the case. One judge dissented in part, concluding the defense had waived the issue. The court separately rejected Stauch's challenge to a search warrant.

The Colorado Department of Law petitioned the Colorado Supreme Court on June 29, 2026, to review the reversal, KKTV and KRDO reported. As of those July 2026 reports the court had not said whether it would take the case. If it declines, the case returns to the 4th Judicial District, where the district attorney's office has said it is prepared to try the case before a new jury. Stauch remains in custody. Because the convictions have been reversed, she is currently presumed innocent of the charges pending any retrial or reinstatement of the verdict.