Letecia Stauch is in our custody in the El Paso County Jail. Charged with: Murder in the First-Degree (Child Under Twelve-Position of Trust), Child Abuse Resulting in Death
Tampering with a Deceased Human Body, and Tampering with Physical Evidence. #FindGannon #GannonStauch pic.twitter.com/qaWYFFd2R8— EPCSheriff (@EPCSheriff) March 5, 2020
LeTecia Stauch, the woman charged with murdering her 11-year-old stepson Gannon Stauch, is now accused of another crime. She allegedly slipped out of her handcuffs and attacked a deputy while being extradited back to Colorado for the homicide case, according to sources cited by KKTV.
RELATED: Our First Look at LeTecia Stauch, the Woman Accused of Murdering 11-Year-Old Stepson
The law enforcement official is said to have sustained injuries, and had to go to a hospital. That explains why the defendant was taken to a Kansas jail for a time.
In any case, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado declined to comment in that article. Stauch is back in her home state as of Thursday night.
The defendant’s stepson Gannon Stauch was last seen January 27, and was initially treated as a disappearance. Before the criminal case, she told KKTV she was facing false allegations, and death threats from people. The defendant said she asked for an attorney during her interview with detectives because the things the investigators were saying had made her uncomfortable. She asserted optimistically that Gannon wasn’t dead, and that they were going to find him.
RELATED: Missing 11-Year-Old Colorado Boy’s Stepmom Arrested on Suspicion of Murder
But now investigators say that the defendant killed the boy. Gannon’s whereabouts remain unknown, but authorities believe the worst case scenario has come to pass.
“We sadly do not believe Gannon is alive,” said El Paso County Lt. Mitch Mihalko at a press conference announcing the criminal case.
Stauch is scheduled for a first appearance in court on Wednesday.
Her professional life had been in flux in the days before Gannon went missing. She was fired from a teaching job at Mountain Ridge Middle School. A spokesperson for her employer said they found “inconsistencies” in her application, according to The Colorado Sun. These weren’t publicly explained.
“The pending charges have no connection to Academy District 20 students or staff members,” the school district told parents in a letter on Thursday. “When any employee is hired in Academy District 20, we conduct a full background check, including a Colorado Bureau of Investigation review, which revealed Ms. Stauch was eligible for hire. Additional due diligence and reference checks revealed inconsistent information.”
[Mugshot via El Paso County Sheriff’s Office]
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