Letecia Stauch, 39, was found guilty on Monday of murder in the first degree, guilty of murder of a child under 12, in the January 2020 death of her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch

Letecia Stauch was sentenced to two life without parole for the murder and 18 months consecutive to life for tampering with physical evidence

Gannon Stauch disappeared in Colorado Springs in January 2020, but his body was found 1,400 miles away in Florida on March 20, 2020

Gannon was stabbed 18 times, then shot in the head, stuffed in a suitcase and dumped over a bridge

Stauch is said to have been resentful about being used as a babysitter and wanted to end the marriage with the victim’s dad, who was away on National Guards duty

Defendant blamed mental illness on her behavior, with her defense claiming she’d suffered a ‘psychotic crack’

Prosecutors said the extent of Gannon’s injuries showed that she acted with intent, and she was mentally-competent when she killed him   

The former elementary school teacher will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole

A Colorado woman will go to jail for life without possibility of parole after she was found guilty of murdering her 11-year-old stepson and dumping his body in a suitcase.
The court rejected the mental incompetence defense and found 39-year-old Letecia Stauch guilty on Monday of murder in the first degree, guilty of murder of a child under 12, guilty of tampering with a deceased human body and guilty of tampering with physical evidence in the death of 11-year-old Gannon.

The judge began the sentencing for Letecia Stauch about 30 minutes after the verdicts were read.
Stauch was sentenced to two life without parole sentences for the murder conviction.
For tampering/destroying with physical evidence, she was sentenced to 18 months, consecutive to life.
Before he handed down the sentence, the judge admonished Letecia Stauch for claiming mental illness as the reason for her actions and said that it did a disservice to those who actually suffer from mental illness.

Letecia Stauch [center], on Monday was sentenced to two life without parole for the murder and 18 months consecutive to life for tampering with physical evidence

Leticia Stauch [photo] stabbed her stepson Gannon Stauch 18 times before beating him across the head four times and shooting him in the jaw in January 2020, ‘obliterating’ the young boy’s skull, according to prosecutors. 

Stauch, an elementary school teacher for special needs children, killed Gannon because she was ‘resentful about being used as a glorified babysitter,’ prosecutors said, adding that she Googled the phrase ‘I hate my stepson’.
She is accused of of killing her stepson in in January 2020, stabbing 18 times before beating him across the head four times. She then shot him in the jaw, ‘obliterating’ the young boy’s skull, according to prosecutors. 
The defendant killed Gannon while they lived in El Paso County, Colorado, inside the youngster’s bedroom. 

Suitcase killer stepmom Leticia Stauch in court [photo], in Colorado in March 2020

After the gruesome murder, she first hid his remains in a remote area nearby, and later rented a van to drive the body1400 miles away to Florida, where she dumped it under a bridge in Pensacola.
It wasn’t found until March, around three months after he vanished.
The killer stepmom had tried to blame mental illness on her behavior, with her defense attorneys claiming she’d suffered a ‘psychotic crack.’
Her attorneys claimed it was the result of sexual abuse she’d suffered as a child.
But prosecutors said the extent of Gannon’s injuries showed that she acted with intent, and that she was mentally-competent when she killed him.

Stauch was married to Gannon’s father Eugene Stauch [photo], also known as Al, who was away on deployment with the National Guard at the time of his son’s murder. He filed for divorce immediately after the incident

Prosecutor Dave Young told the court: ‘What does that tell you? Use your common sense. It’s not psychotic. It’s just strategic.’
Distressingly Gannon tried to fight off his killer stepmom despite being drugged with hydrocodone, prosecutors say. 
Stauch is said to have wanted to end her marriage to Gannon’s father, Al. 
Prosecutors say a photo she snapped of Gannon laying in his bed on the morning of his murder was further evidence of the fact she’d pre-meditated the plot.

Gannon [L-R], disappeared in Colorado Springs in January 2020. His body was found 1,400 miles away in Florida on March 20, 2020. Stauch is accused of hitting Gannon with a blunt object, stabbing and shooting him before dumping his body in a suitcase 

Letecia Stauch blamed mental illness on her behavior, with her defense claiming she’d suffered a ‘psychotic crack.’ Prosecutors said the extent of Gannon’s injuries showed that she acted with intent, and she was mentally-competent when she killed him 

She texted it to Al, who was away serving with the National Guard at the time.  
They say she used it to try and cover her tracks, by claiming she’d left Gannon in bed to go for a hike, only to come home to find he’d vanished. 
After killing Gannon, Stauch scrubbed the walls and floors of his bedroom, then put her bloody shoes and clothes in the washing machine.
Prosecutors said this was further evidence that her crimes were pre-meditated. 
District Attorney Michael Allen said of Stauch’s crimes: ‘(Gannon) deserved to live. He deserved to grow up and become a young man and someday have a family of his own. She took it all away.’