Gannon Stauch; Letecia Stauch.Photo: El Paso County Sheriff’s Office; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office via AP
Shortly after11-year-old Gannon Stauchwas reported missing in 2020, his stepmother’s half-brother saw her lugging a heavy suitcase while he helped her move out of her Colorado home, he testified Tuesday.
At the time, Dakota Lowry had no idea that the missing boy’s lifeless body was stuffed inside that suitcase, according to prosecutors.
On Tuesday in court, the weight of emotion from the child’s slaying overtook Lowry on the stand when he testified against his half-sister,Letecia Stauch, who is accused of killing her stepson.
“Why Ticia?” he shouted through tears at his half-sister,The Gazettereports.
On Jan. 27, 2020, prosecutors say Letecia stabbed Gannon 18 times and then fatally shot him in the bedroom of the Colorado home where they lived with his father, her then-husband Al Stauch.
On Tuesday, Lowry recounted how in the days after Gannon vanished, he and his mother helped Letecia move her belongings out of the Colorado home,The Gazettereports.
On Feb. 1, 2020, Lowery said he was helping Letecia transfer her belongings into a Budget van Letecia had rented when he noticed her struggling to carry one of her suitcases.
Something “didn’t feel right” about the worn, green suitcase, which seemed much heavier than the others, he testified,9Newsreports.
He offered to help her carry it, but she said she didn’t need any help, adding that it was so heavy because it was full of “softball stuff,” he said,9News reports.
He also testified that he didn’t remember seeing that suitcase when they helped her move out of the home on Jan. 30, 2020,The Gazettereports.
Between Feb. 2 and Feb. 5, 2020, Letecia drove through Texas, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida, before eventually returning the van in Myrtle Beach, S.C., according to an Avis Car rental employee who testified about the van’s tracking data,The Gazettereports.
On Feb. 4, 2020, Letecia checked into a hotel in Pensacola, Fla.
On March 20, 2020, Gannon’s body was found inside a suitcase under a bridge near the hotel.
Lowry said it was the same suitcase he had seen Letecia struggling to carry in February.
“When everything first happened, when we found out they found the little boy’s body. We found out where he was found, at that point, I knew she did it,” he said, 9News reports. “Because when I seen that suitcase and asked her about it. She was acting funny to me.”
Jurors Heard Recorded Phone Call
After Gannon went missing, Letecia initially told her then-husband, Al Stauch, that a man broke into their home, raped her and kidnapped Gannon, 9News reports.
When he asked her why there was no sign of the attack inside the home, she said, “I cleaned it up,” he testified,9Newsreports.
“My first impression was that it was a bulls— story,” he testified last week,KOAA reports.
As the conversation continued, Al asked Leticia point blank if she had killed Gannon, KOAA reports.
“Did I kill Gannon?” she replied. “The answer is no. I can’t believe you asked me this.”
He said, “There’s a lot of unknowns. This is the fourth version of the same story… I just don’t know what the hell is going on.”
“I loved Gannon,” she said during the call. “I would never want to hurt Gannon.”
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Prosecutors maintain in the arrest affidavit that they have evidence that a brutal crime took place inside Gannon’s room.
“Evidence recovered from the residence and inside Gannon’s bedroom supports that a violent event occurred in the bedroom,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators found blood spatter on the walls, “and enough blood loss to stain his mattress, soak through the carpet, the carpet pad, and stain the concrete below his bed,” it says.
According to the affidavit, Letecia asked her 17-year-old daughter to purchase trash bags, baking soda and carpet powder before calling 911 to report Gannon missing. Investigators said these items were used to clean up blood.
The trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
source: people.com
