Letecia Stauch Faces New Charges After Discovery Of Stepson Gannon's Body
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4) - Letecia Stauch, the stepmother and accused killer of Gannon Stauch, will now face a new set of formal charges. The announcement was made by the district attorney's office in El Paso County on Friday afternoon following the pivotal discovery of the boy's body in Florida.
"It absolutely changes things," El Paso County Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Allen said.
Letecia now faces a charge of first-degree murder with intent and deliberation, plus eight other "crime of violence" sentencing enhancer charges.
"These new charges are added to the original four charges that we originally filed in this case," Allen said.
Although Allen said he isn't discussing the circumstances surrounding the boy's death or the discovery of his body (because it might compromise "the integrity of the investigation") he made it clear that authorities believe the murder happened in Colorado.
"We have jurisdictional requirements, so we couldn't charge it if we didn't think that (the murder) occurred here in our jurisdiction," he said.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office is still actively investigating the case. They are hoping that anyone who saw Letecia between Feb. 3-5 in the Florida cities of Pensacola of Pace (where Gannon's body was found) to call their tip line at 719-520-6666 or email tips@elpasoco.com.
The murder charge could carry a sentence of life in prison without parole.
Letecia's next appearance in court is scheduled for April 14 at 3 p.m.