891 what? My son is supposed to be on 6:00 and it's almost 7. He's only 11. Okay. What's his name? DN. This is the exact moment when 36-year-old Leticia realizes that cops have finally discovered her horrifying secret. Her life was about to change forever. He had one of the guns. So terrified. And then he just knocked me down and like towards Ganon's room and he was like he was hitting on me. It was like on the ground. In the early morning of January 27th, Leticia contacted her supervisors at Whitefield School District 3, informing them that she would not be coming to work. She claimed her stepfather had passed away in a hit-and-run accident and she needed to handle the situation. Several hours later at 9:56 a.m., Leticia sent another message. This time saying that her stepson Ganon was unwell and she would need to stay home to care for him. But just 20 minutes later, a neighbor's security camera captured Leticia and Ganon leaving their home in a red Nissan Frontier. Instead of taking Ganon to a doctor, Leticia was seen visiting a Petco store on Nevada Avenue. By around 200 p.m., the two had returned home. However, something about their return didn't seem right. Leticia had bought cleaning supplies shortly afterward, and she parked her car by reversing fully into the driveway. Something friends and family said she never usually did. At this point, one thing was clear. The last person known to be with Ganon was his stepmother. And strangely, it wasn't until 700 p.m., 5 hours after they returned, that Leticia reported Ganon missing. After receiving the 911 call, officers quickly arrived at Leticia's home. Their goal was to collect any information they could because with each passing second, the chances of finding Ganon grew slimmer. Did he take his bike? No. Okay. So, Okay. Okay, cuz somebody saw a little kid on a bike. They posted it. They don't know if he brought him. Well, he unless he took it sooner and brought it back because Lena ends up getting the bike for dinner. Okay. They thought he was at his friend's house. He was like, "Yeah, there's one picture." Someone said he was on and he was holding he was taking a switch. For someone who had just reported her stepson missing, Leticia appeared unusually calm. What raised even more concern was her first explanation. She claimed Ganon had gone to visit a friend, but that couldn't be true. Security footage confirmed Ganon never left the house after returning earlier that day. Clearly, something wasn't right. Yet, at that moment, the officers treated Leticia as nothing more than a worried parent and continued their search inside the home. Okay. Cuz you weren't in here. You weren't in here in the beginning, right? I thought I have I didn't know if I had that box cutter and all that stuff in there cuz I told him about he dropped the candle last night. Oh, okay. And I I thought I must have picked it up. I was just making sure. I didn't want you to be like, "Oh, just a box cutters." But yeah, I had to cut this and I told them I wasn't even going to tell Dad and I was going to figure out a way to put this in there from the situation. But at least you got a car, right? I just took it and like covered up with the carpet and stuff like that. Look, does he does he have any friends around here? Um, there is a Let me look on this thing. He did have this one like book thing. It's where he was supposed to be at down the road, but they checked that already. They went over there and talked to him and they're like, "No, we hadn't seen him at all." Okay. He did have this like a And you talked to parents, right? You didn't talk to Yeah. Conor's mom came over, who is a friend he always goes hangs out with all the time. Um, so they come over. The people here that the friends, they were just the ones that were at the door with the bike. They came over. Bunch of people came over. It's important to note that the officers had not yet completed a full search of the house. Only a quick surface level check had been done. Yet, strangely, Leticia appeared determined to keep them confined to just two areas. The living room, where a section of carpet appeared to be burned, and Ganon's bedroom. Her behavior grew more suspicious as she continued to guide and restrict the officer's movements, making sure they didn't explore the rest of the house. Forget to like, bring this or bring that or bring this or bring that, you know. So good. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So no, no clothes are missing or nothing. No, we actually lay out all the clothes all the time like for you know like every day at school we lay out clothes, we do whatever. Is this his jacket going? He had on a we he has several jackets like he might it depends on I'm I'm very like fashion. So like it it just depends on jackets like he might have this black one with this or there's a blue one with this. So he had a jacket. Oh yeah yeah yeah. So jackets like I mean you see the kid has you know like tons and tons of clothes and he just you know he has all that stuff. So, there was a weird text that dad got about something about bath salts and hey, if you uh if I can get some bath salts, do we have any bath salts and my friend will let me play Sonic or something at their house. He sent that to his dad. Yeah, I got it. And then uh mom goes through everything, finds a like a like a this partner. Yep. This was the moment officers began to suspect that Leticia might be hiding something. She suddenly closed a door leading to the basement, raising questions about what she didn't want them to see. Her behavior, choice of words, and repeated attempts to distract officers from certain parts of the house did not go unnoticed. As a result, investigators later examined her electronic devices. What they found was deeply disturbing. A video recorded on Sunday, January 26th, just one day before Ganon was reported missing. Ganon, I promise it's the last time I'm going to ask you. I'm just freaked out. Okay. Are you sure you didn't do it on purpose? He did it. Okay. He promised. He promised. On purpose. Pinky promised. Pinky. Okay. All right. So, listen. We're going to have to sell stuff to fix it. So, we figure out what we got to sell. We can sell the sofa cuz we got to get it fixed. So, lady, don't be mad at us and kick us inside the house, okay? The video found on Leticia's phone showed Ganon after he had apparently dropped a candle, which left a burn mark on the carpet. However, what the video failed to show was far more troubling. Ganon had also suffered burn injuries on his arms. Instead of helping him or seeking medical attention, Leticia could be heard scolding him harshly. During the same phone analysis, officers also uncovered a recorded call between Leticia and her husband, Albert Stal, in which he informed him about the incident. Although the phone call was deeply emotional, the injuries described by Ganon suggest secondderee burns. He mentioned a freezing sensation and there were visible blisters. The details of Leticia's story weren't adding up, and so far everything pointed to her in a concerning way. Still, investigators needed clear facts. Since Ganon disappeared shortly after the Candle incident, officers had to find out exactly what happened. That's why on January 30th, 3 days after Ganon was reported missing, Leticia was brought in for an official interview. Detectives hope to better understand the events leading up to his disappearance. So Ganon had started a candle. Again, normal day. He's very like responsible in terms of like uh if you give him something and say do this, do this, this, and this like a list and prepare. It's fine. So we let him, you know, do things like that. So I didn't see a problem when him, you know, light a candle, whatever, whatever, whatever. And Lena asked me could she stay up and still watch um the rest of her iPad or whatever. It was just her birthday and I was trying to give her a little bit extra because we went all out for G's birthday. Like we took him to a Rocky's game. He we took friends with him. So it starts beeping like a beep beep beep beep and I thought that someone was coming in the house. I didn't see anything going on. Then it started saying fire fire. So there was smoke coming up through the basement. So then I ran it downstairs to get Gon. And then the fire was on the floor over here, then on the sofa. So I'm pretending this was the sofa and this is our floor. So it was right here and right here. And I saw the candle that was over here. So there was covers everywhere cuz the kids always get on about they leave a lot of covers laying around all the time. I take a whole bunch of them and I go and like like basically smash down on the sofa and the um fire to put it out. So I got a burn and then I was like get up again and started running at that point because it wakes him up. He's alert. He's realizing that the covers and everything's on fire, the carpet's on fire and we all go outside. According to Leticia, the entire situation was the result of a freak accident. She claimed Ganon had accidentally knocked over a candle which caused a small fire on the basement carpet. This matched the same damaged piece of carpet she had previously pointed out to officers. But something about that story didn't sit right. Secondderee burns on both arms from a single candle spill seemed unlikely, if not impossible. A slow burning flame like that would have given Ganon time to react or move away. He was old enough to understand the danger. What raised even more suspicion was Leticia's changing story. When she began describing Ganon's injuries during the interview, the details were noticeably different from what she had previously told her husband Albert. I was scared because my thought process was Albert is going to kill me. Like because I made a mistake as a parent and forgot to like really check him down and he really got a little bit more burned than he should have. So I was freaking out because it's like he's going to kill me and Gon's like it's okay and like there was blood and like he had on his arm and as it was peeling and I should have called what did they have? I should have called the hospital and just asked you know I don't know enough about burns but I should have called the hospital and just asked like I made a mistake. During the interview, Leticia made a crucial mistake. She claimed that Ganon had said more than he should have and also suggested that he was bleeding as a result of the burns, something she hadn't mentioned earlier to her husband, Albert. This directly contradicted her previous account and raised serious doubts. This slip up didn't go unnoticed. Detectives began to suspect that the fire might not have been an accident after all. While they couldn't confirm that yet, there was one thing they were sure of. Leticia wasn't telling the truth. When someone is guilty, they often change their story in significant ways. In contrast, innocent individuals usually remain consistent. In Leticia's case, her version of events kept shifting, especially regarding how she reacted to the candle incident. One of those reactions was even recorded on her own phone. This inconsistency set off alarm bells for detectives. If she was willing to alter the details of a past event, there was a strong possibility she might also be lying about what really happened to Ganon. Investigators now believe she could be hiding even more critical information. He goes in through the garage. I go in. I'm getting ready to put up the things, stuff like that. As we got inside, I heard something, but I didn't think anything about it because I thought, you know, maybe maybe G was like doing something. Maybe we were like doing whatever. Mhm. And the guy was in there and I gave him the code. The guy from the Yeah. It's all my fault cuz I gave him a code to fix the carpet. Okay. And then when I walk downstairs, I hear something again. Well, at that point in time, Gana was on the sofa and I saw him and I heard something again and I walked on around and he was standing in there. He had on gloves in the storage. Yes. Okay. He had one of the gums and then he just knocked me down and like towards scanning through and he was like he was hitting on me like on the ground. He was trying to like and I'm like pleading and like talking and like all these things going on like just back and forth with him and why are you doing this? Why why did you hurt us? Why are you doing these things? And then he was like on top of me again and then I kind of out again cuz he hid my head again. Really? And then Yes. And then he was like he asked me to give him a he just kept like hitting me right in there like that. Okay. And so then he did that and then I wiped out again. I was having a panic attack and then I don't know what happened from there. I really don't. I I don't know. I just know that I did lie. I did when they came I did say get and left whatever. But you know that but he never did. He never left to go play. And I just didn't know what to do. And I picked you the moment and I didn't want Albert to be like trying to hurt us cuz we kind of get in a lot of fights. But I just Yeah. And I just want you know that was the only reason that that I made up of the light. Oh. Verify Leticia's claim of being assaulted. Officers offered a forensic exam by a trained nurse. Surprisingly, she refused. Even more suspicious, CCTV footage confirmed that no one entered or left the house after Leticia and Ganon returned home. It became clear her story wasn't adding up. Police handed the case over to the FBI, who then reviewed more surveillance footage. What they found was chilling. The morning after Ganon's disappearance, Leticia rented a Kia and left home around 8:30 a.m. On January 29th, she returned the car with nearly 955 miles, added, "The implication was disturbing." Leticia had likely killed Ganon sometime after they got home and used the rental car the next day to dispose of his body. While investigators now had a clearer picture, many details remained unknown. That's why on March 2nd, a month after Ganon vanished, federal agents called Latasha in for another interview, hoping to finally uncover the full truth. Because of the nature of the warrant, it being a murder warrant, we need to know the real story because you put out quite a different quite a few different stories. Yeah. Well, we heard a lot of the stories to Al to Albert. The reason I already knew someone was listening to him, but because of him not ever like being like supportive and I tried originally to talk to him when he first got there, that was the only reason I said those things to him was just because I was out of anger and out of like hurt and not being able to have like support. It was nothing to do with like me saying those things to him was just being just what what is the word you want to call it? selfish or victitious or whatever you want to call it. I did have like originally initial different thoughts on certain things and that was me trying to like basically read him and try to figure the situations out. So I understand that you may have heard those or whatever you may have heard and that's okay because that totally was not you know in here I even have what you entered in your phone the stuff that you've entered and deleted like um blood is spurting from an arterial bleed direct pressure not controlling what I didn't look this up it's from your phone blood is what spurting from an arterial bleed no somebody did from your phone I don't like my stepson son. No, I don't like my stepson. Should I get a divorce? I'll stalk cheating. I'll stalk Instagram. I'll stock cheating in Colorado Springs. How to get blood out of sheets. Out of sheets? Mhm. I want immunity. Oh, the blood out of the blood out of sheets was because we always had always nosebleleeds. If I ever looked up blood out of sheets, it was nose bleed. And I figured it might be something. I didn't never look up anything about an artery or something unless it went from something else. It's not your fault. And I never looked up anything about my stepson or what someone else did. The searches mentioned by investigators were just a few among 34 online searches Leticia made between January 25th and 28th, the exact days surrounding Ganon's disappearance. Strangely, she had an explanation ready for each and every one of them. The reason I brought up gangs is you you uh looked up I want immunity because it was gang related and this sounds like I mean find me a new husband, find me a rich guy who loves to take care of his kids. The the new husband is because Albert already knew that was about the lady Debbie Cheryl who had a who wanted to find a new husband at the 35 or so he picked me about Amazon. Like a lot of these can have nothing to do with this. It doesn't. I get it. I'm doing all the work for my step kids and their mom doesn't help. Oh, that bothered me. Yeah. Yeah. I don't blame. Oh, yes. Cuz I wanted them to be mine. Like one day some people will wish they treated you differently, which I get that. Parenting should be four people, not one person might say. I mean, these make me very sad when I read them because I can see you're doing all the work at home by yourself. Which I wanted to be there. Like I wanted to totally have the kids as my children. That's the point you're not getting. Like I wanted those kids to be saying to me that I'm their mom. Like I'm the person who does cares for them, loves them, everything. Investigators found 12 deleted searches on Leticia's phone. Many about leaving her husband. Despite their clear intent, she had excuses for all of them. To avoid maximum sentencing, Leticia might have been aiming for an offered plea, which allows a guilty plea while still claiming innocence. Detectives then shifted focus. Blood was discovered in her truck, Ganon's room, and on a cutup carpet. Around 2 p.m. on January 27th, a doorbell cam captured dogs barking and what sounded like Ganon screaming. By 5:00 p.m., Leticia had her daughter buy cleaning supplies, likely to hide evidence. Officers now believe Ganon's body was hidden nearby, possibly in the garage or basement, just inches from where police searched. Every location she guided officers to had traces of blood. Her anatomy searches suggest she targeted a major artery, causing heavy bleeding. The car was also backed fully into the driveway, likely to hide the blood inside. As detectives connected the dots, Leticia shifted from fake calm to clear desperation. Why would I hurt our child? I had everything in the world. Why? Have no motive. None. Don't have the first motive. Everything I wanted in my life, I had it. Why? Doesn't make any sense. It doesn't make sense. A lot of the time what happens inside of a house. I sir, I don't even know what you're talking about. I All I can tell you is I did not attend with all the evidence that they have. The reason why it took so long is the district attorney wanted to wait and wait and wait till they made sure they could win in the courtroom. Okay. And I've done nobody homicides before. They have more on this case than we do on most of them. Okay. But if you have what you need, why do you keep asking me? Because our goal is to find Ganon. Our goal is not to prosecute you. That is the district attorney's job. We're investigators. And like you, like you've just seen, I do a poor job about half the time because I have to guess. Because as much as we tried to track you with your cars and your phones and whatever else, there are gaps. We do have, like I told you, the blood in the house. We do have, do you know about the board that was thrown in the forest, Laticia? Oh, sorry. What? The board that has given blood on it that was thrown in the forest. Okay. So, I All right. You got your DN. Faced with overwhelming evidence, most suspects eventually break under pressure. But Leticia did the opposite. She denied everything and in doing so unintentionally revealed even more incriminating details. The blood that you or your teen allowed people to be in the house. That has no bearing on. Okay. Well, if it doesn't then Okay. It doesn't. Okay. So, are you ready to tell me you're blistering? Maybe check one of them because I bet you they can tell me the last time they saw Ganon even though it was before. I bet Al can tell you the last time he saw Gon even though he didn't know that was going to be the last. I guarantee you he's got an image of Ganon. June was the last. Okay. Leticia eventually admitted she was the last person to see Ganon. And during the interview, she revealed details about his injuries, the blood evidence, and possible motives, essentially turning the interrogation into a confession. Her actions stemmed from two major issues: resentment toward her husband, Albert, due to his National Guard duties and jealousy of Ganon's biological mother, Landon. When Ganon wished his mom were there during the candle incident, it pushed Leticia over the edge. The next day, she took leave from work and murdered Ganon, trying to cover it up as an accident. With this evidence, there was no escape. Eight days later, she was arrested. And during her transfer to jail, driven by frustration and desperation, she attempted to flee custody. Keep threatening. She keeps threatening me. Stop. Well, she keeps threatening. Stop. Stop it. She keeps on threatening me. I have stopped it. She keeps on. She got out of there with shrinks. She keeps on threatening me. I am your arm down. I will for you. She keeps your arm down. Your arm down your arm. Well, she keeps threatening me the whole time. Tisha, I real with you. I said I would. Give me your arm now. I said I would with you. I said I would with you. I said I wouldn't with you. I'm just asking to breathe. You'll see it is to breathe. That's all I want to do is breathe. It's You're hurting my arm. My phone's jacking cold. You're hurting my arm. You're hurting my arm. I just hurt my arm. It's hurting my arm. Just let my arm out. Letia complained of pain and discomfort, yet showed no remorse for the torture she inflicted on Ganon. His death was slow and agonizing. On March 17th, 2020, 49 days later, his body was found in a suitcase under Escambia Bay Bridge, 1,300 m from home. The autopsy revealed he was drugged with acetaminophen and hydrocodone, the latter stolen from his father's prescription. A gunshot to the jaw confirmed Leticia ended his life after prolonged suffering. Despite knowing all this, she denied involvement and even begged her husband to stop cooperating with police during trial. I need to know something about my son. I need to know something about Ganon. Do you know if he's safe? Do you know is he safe? Where is he at? Do you I mean do you have anything? And if I kill Really? What? What? What about this? What? I I'm trying to think of any way to cue the police to to offer you immunity if they can. Okay. Because they'll try to give me incriminate me for this. I need immunity. I think I think they give it to you because this is big that he was there and they missed it. Cuz then they're going to want to keep they're going to want to cover their [ __ ] for not fight. Despite Leticia's desperate pleas, Albert continued to support the investigation. On May 8th, 2023, 3 years later, Leticia was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole plus 156 years, the maximum allowed under Colorado law. If you found this video compelling, be sure to subscribe for more real crime stories. Thank you for watching.