A popular true crime YouTube creator took advantage of the Freedom of Information Act in Florida to request graphic photos of an 11-year-old boy’s autopsy and is now accused of charging her Patreon followers money to be able to view them. The boy, Gannon Stauch, was brutally murdered by his stepmother in 2020. The YouTuber who allegedly profited from the autopsy photos has been identified as “Zav Girl."
Some of the images of the young boy’s autopsy were so gruesome that they were blocked at the stepmother’s trial, according to News Nation. Gannon was killed by his stepmother, Letecia Stauch, who stabbed him 18 times, hit him in the head, and shot him, per People. She was sentenced to life without parole in May 2023. Michael Allen, the prosecutor, said Gannon “deserved more in life from his stepmother … and certainly deserves dignity and respect in death,” per News Nation.
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Zav Girl took advantage of the Freedom of Information Act to request the photos and then sell them.
News Nation senior national correspondent Brian Entin said the YouTuber was able to obtain the photos by sending in a request via the act. “She was making money off of that little boy’s autopsy photos. Autopsy photos of a severely beaten to death little boy," he said. "Really, they just have no place on the internet."
Prosecutor Michael Allen noted that it's not illegal. “Florida law allows these sorts of things to go out. Maybe we need to look at changing the law as it relates to autopsy photos being released on the internet,” he said, the news outlet reported.
The YouTuber tried to defend herself in a statement but later deleted it.
Although it was deleted, screenshots were taken and posted to Twitter, according to News Nation. The YouTuber claimed in her statement, “Some people genuinely think making a video including the autopsy photos is bad and I respect their opinion and feelings. Other people, like myself, think of autopsy photos and the coroner discussing/explaining them as interesting and informative and are able to view it all in a more scientific detached way.”
‘It’s completely disrespectful' to the boy's relatives, the prosecutor said.
“It’s just completely disrespectful to the family members that have had to live through this horror,” Allen said, per News Nation. He added that if it was for the sake of science or learning, as Zav Girl claimed, the YouTuber could have done things differently.
“They could have used body diagrams that the autopsy also included, instead of putting the actual pictures of Gannon’s just completely broken body that reflects the depravity and horror that he had to live through,” he explained.
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Social media users are disgusted by the YouTuber’s actions.
Social media users on Twitter were sickened and outraged by the YouTuber. Many pointed out that the worst part is all the trouble she went through to legally request the photos. Some even suggested she paid for them and said that to then turn around and charge others to see them is beyond disturbing.
“Why were these photos even made available to the public?? I have seen multiple people state they have seen the photos from a file purchased on the case for $400," one person wrote. "It’s gross that anyone out there can purchase these documents and do what they want with them.”
“That is horrible! I have run across her channel and let's just say I was not a fan,” someone else commented.
Another Twitter user wrote, “What an evil, cold hearted and twisted person 'Zav Girl' is. Bad enough for posting the images, but even more abhorrent to charge to view the images?! Seriously twisted mind frame!!”
