‘Psychotic crack’ made girl kill stepson, US jury informed

A US girl knew what she was doing when she stabbed her younger stepson 18 instances, shot him and drove throughout the nation to dump a suitcase along with his stays inside, a Colorado prosecutor says.

Letecia Stauch allegedly killed 11-year-old Gannon Stauch in his bed room just a few hours earlier than reporting him lacking on January 27, 2020, whereas his father was on a Nationwide Guard deployment.

Her defence legal professionals steered she was sad in her marriage and resentful of being handled like an unpaid babysitter.

Attorneys for Stauch, who has pleaded not responsible by purpose of madness, say she suffered a “main psychotic crack” because of childhood trauma when she killed Gannon.

District Legal professional Michael Allen argued in his opening assertion of Stauch’s trial on Tuesday that the steps that Stauch took to cowl up her actions had been proof she knew what she did was flawed and was subsequently sane.

She cleaned up blood in Gannon’s bed room, hiding his physique in varied areas earlier than disposing of it “like rubbish” in a river, he stated.

Stauch additionally lied to investigators, Allen informed the Colorado Springs jury, providing conflicting accounts of what had occurred.

However defence lawyer Will Cook dinner stated the ugly particulars highlighted by Allen, together with how Gannon was killed and the dearth of a motive, had been proof that Stauch was “insane” as a result of it didn’t make sense.

“These are all indicators and proof of a thoughts, a soul, that’s damaged in a most basic and profound manner,” he stated.

Cook dinner steered Stauch developed dissociative determine dysfunction because of being abused by her absent mom’s string of companions throughout her childhood.

When she killed Gannon, she was not, in her thoughts, killing her stepson, however the “demons” from her childhood and life, he stated.

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