EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) – Neighbors of the Stauch family had been holding onto hope that Gannon would be found safe. Now, they are heartbroken to learn prosecutors say his stepmother is responsible for his death.

“As a mother, there’s no way I could ever — even at my lowest point of life — do anything like this to hurt a child. Nope. Never,” neighbor Cambra Peterson said.

Blue ribbons still cling tightly to the trees in the Lorson Ranch Community just southeast of Colorado Springs. It’s a community that has spent the last five weeks praying Gannon would come home safe.

“I was trying to be hopeful that maybe one day he’d come walking down the street,” neighbor Nicole Marx said.

But as the days stretched into weeks, the blue lights neighbors put on their homes in solidarity started to dim. Then on Monday, major developments were announced as investigators allege that Gannon’s stepmother, Letecia Stauch, killed him.

“I feel like it’s been the worst day of my life but yet the best. I say that because I truly believe that justice will served for her,” Peterson said.

Gannon used to play basketball at Peterson’s home. He was the same age as her daughter.

“He was always telling a joke. He was cute, spunky – he had so much life ahead of him,” Peterson said. Peterson delivered a card and flowers to Gannon’s fifth grade class on Monday.

Over the past month, crews spent countless hours conducting aerial and ground searches for Gannon. While his body has not yet been recovered, authorities pledge they will not stop searching.

Neighbors who knew and loved Gannon said this is a revelation they just cannot understand.

“It’s just crazy knowing that they lived right down the road. And how someone could do something like that to such a sweet little boy,” Marx said.