COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KDVR) — Two-and-a-half years after 11-year-old Gannon Stauch’s death, a judge said his stepmother and accused killer won’t get a new court date until the state hospital can come up with a report on her mental competency.
FOX31 listened in on a court hearing Thursday, which addressed plans from Stauch’s defense attorney to take action in order to get her test results.
Here is a timeline of what has transpired since January of 2020.
Timeline of the Gannon Stauch case
Letecia Stauch, 38, is Gannon’s stepmother. On Jan. 27, 2020, Stauch called the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and reported Gannon left their home near Colorado Springs and never returned. Investigators believe Stauch killed Gannon sometime after 2 p.m. that day.
Police arrested her on March 2, 2020, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. They found Gannon’s body in Pace, Florida, on March 18.
Since March 2020, Stauch has been held in the El Paso County Jail. She faces more than a dozen charges, including first-degree murder. She has been awaiting trial on the case for more than two years.
Back In September 2020, state psychiatrists told the court Stauch is competent enough to stand trial but her attorneys asked for a second opinion. In January 2021, Stauch was found competent to stand trial.
In September 2021, El Paso County Judge Gregory Werner determined that there is enough evidence against Letecia Stauch to proceed with a trial.
Reports on Letecia Stauch’s competency still in limbo
Stauch initially pleaded “not guilty” in November 2021. Right after, her attorney stated it is likely they are going to introduce evidence about Stauch’s mental condition after the disappearance of Gannon, but it wasn’t an insanity plea.
In February, Stauch changed her plea to “not guilty by reason of insanity,” and her defense lawyers filed a motion to waive a jury trial.
When Stauch changed her plea back in February, it required the state to conduct another mental health evaluation on Stauch. Judge Werner said he would not rule on that motion to waive the jury trial without a report on her mental status.
Since this third evaluation was ordered, there have been a number of delays in getting a report from the state doctors to the court.
In April, the judge said doctors from the state hospital needed more records that Stauch told them about, records that were in South Carolina where she used to live. Her defense attorney had to fly there to get them, and the original plan was to have the report done by the end of May.
The results of Stauch’s state mental evaluation were scheduled for release June 9. However, on June 9, the court said it had not received any reports and was unable to move forward until it did. As a result, Stauch’s case was postponed until July 28, with the possibility of a trial being set for next year.
On Thursday, Werner stated that they still don’t have the reports and he’s going to wait until the court physically has them to set another status hearing. Werner promised to set the next date at least two weeks out from when the court gets the report in order to give family members time to make travel arrangements to attend the next appearance.