Gannon Stauch‘s grieving father has slammed the ‘evil’ YouTuber selling his autopsy photos online for $3 a piece, three years after the 11-year-old was murdered by his stepmother.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Brian Entin last night, Stauch’s father Al said the YouTuber – who goes by Zav Girl – was ‘dishonoring’ his late son.
Zav Girl had filed an FOIA request for the autopsy photos, which were so graphic they were not shown to the public during the trial of Gannon’s stepmother, Letecia.
In January 2020, Letecia stabbed Gannon 18 times, hit him over the head and shot him at their home in Colorado Springs.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Brian Entin last night, Stauch’s father Al said the YouTuber – who goes by Zav Girl – was ‘dishonoring’ his late son
Gannon Stauch, 11, was stabbed 18 times, hit in the head and shot by his stepmother in January 2020. Prosecutors say she wanted to hurt his father, who she planned to leave, and who was out of town for work at the time of his son’s killing
At trial, she said she suffered a ‘psychotic break’ that led her to kill the child so brutally. She was convicted in May and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In his interview, Al Stauch said Zav Girl’s videos forced him to live through the trauma of his son’s death all over again.
‘This is about Gannon, this is not about anyone’s opinions, or if you view it as a scientific discussion. This is about respect for a little boy who tragically lost his life and did not deserve this.
‘For the family that survives Gannon, it is retraumatizing. We just finished the trial two months ago and now we’re having to relive this stuff, we’re not able to put it behind us.
‘The word I use to describe it is evil. The world got enough information from the trial to have every discussion they want to have. Why do we need to go and have freedom of information requests and pay for this kind of information and dishonor my son by putting these photos out there?’
Al, who is a member of the Colorado National Guard, added that the ‘only day’ he did not attend Letecia’s trial was the day he knew the autopsy photos were going to be shown.
True crime YouTuber ‘Zav Girl’ – who conceals her real identity online – submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to police in Colorado for the autopsy photos. She then sold them via her Patreon account for $3 each
He was determined to avoid it, he said, but now feels he can’t escape the images.
‘I feel like I can’t even go on YouTube without the possibility of accidentally coming across these photos.’
It’s unclear if the YouTuber will face any kind of legal action. She appears to have deactivated the Patreon page where she was selling the images, but is yet to make a public comment or respond to the family.
She did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s inquiries on Thursday.
Al said that while he has considered taking legal action against her, he is ‘financially maxed out’ from the trial.
‘I am just emotionally, psychologically and financially maxed out from the three-plus years of this. To take legal action, I don’t know if I have it in me.
‘What I’m trying to do is shape the narrative. I don’t think I have to do much. I don’t think it’s going to take much for us to have these people repointed in the right direction.
Killer: Letecia Stauch tried to submit an insanity defense but the jury rejected it. She was convicted in May this year and sentenced to life in prison without parole
The home in Colorado Springs, where Gannon was brutally murdered in January 2020
‘That’s a question for a legal representative. I believe in the freedom of information to a certain extent, but you can’t always control what someone with evil intentions will do. I’m not a legal guy. Someone has taken that and turned it into evil.’
He added that Gannon was at the ‘spot in life’ where he was transitioning from being a boy into a young teenager.
‘He was a fun kid, a jokester. Loved to have a good time. Playing video games was one of his passions, like many kids. What can I say, he was my boy.
‘I mentioned in my closing statement, the spot he was at in life, transitioning from calling me “daddy” to right before he passed away, it was one of the first times he called me “dad”, going into those early teenage years.
‘It was a special bond we had. I miss him dearly.’
‘He was my boy’: Al said he misses his son ‘dearly’
Letecia’s attorneys attempted to offer an insanity defense.
The jury rejected her claim, finding she was sane when she murdered the boy in January 2020 while his father was out of town for work.
Prosecutors argued that she was motivated to kill Gannon to hurt Al, from whom she wanted to separate.
After murdering Gannon, she put his body in a suitcase and drove it, in the back of a van, across the country.
Initially, she told police he was missing, sparking a widespread volunteer search in Colorado Springs. She claimed Gannon had not returned home from playing from his friends.
Letecia then claimed he had been abducted by a handyman she claimed she’d hired to repair a carpet. She also claimed the fictitious handyman raped her.
The child’s remains were found under a bridge in the Florida panhandle in March 2020, three months after he died.
