Vigilante woman with 'unrestrained hatred' for pedophiles learns her fate after killing and dismembering wanted sex offender

A Colorado woman who had a 'paranoia' about child molesters has been sentenced to life in prison after she shot a wanted sex offender and dumped his remains in a drainage ditch.

Deka Simmons, 38, will spend the rest of her life behind bars without the possibility of parole over the murder of 48-year-old Daxcimo Ceja in Colorado Springs.

At sentencing on Wednesday, prosecutor Sharon Flaherty said in her closing arguments that Simmons murdered Ceja because he was a sex offender who had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl when he was 25, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. 

Simmons was the subject of an intensive investigation that stretched back to April 2022 when she was arrested for the brutal killing. 

Simmons killed Ceja while he had a warrant out for his arrest for his failure to register as a sex offender. 

According to authorities, Simmons shot Ceja in a garage, dismembered his body, and stowed it in a freezer before transporting his remains in a van. 

Officers had been able to link the brutal murder to Simmons because of DNA they had recovered from blood in the garage across more than 300 stains. 

In October 2023, police found Ceja's body in a drainage ditch near the 500 block of W. Polk Street, after an anonymous tip regarding human remains in a bag. 

Flaherty told the court Simmons had an intense disdain for pedophiles, according to testimony from the trial. It was claimed her ill-feelings stemmed from an alleged incident which involved her daughter. 

'[She] has an unrestrained hatred for anyone who would molest a child,' the prosecutor said, before adding that this feeling of loathing was a 'fixation' and a 'paranoia.'

CSPD detective Jerry Shiffelbei testified that one of Simmons' previous cellmates told him that she had said that she once murdered a man because she believed he was a child molester. 

Other incriminating evidence came in the form of a Facebook message that the killer allegedly sent to a witness via Facebook messenger. 

'DID YOU CLEAN THE HOUSE???' Simmons reportedly sent to someone who was allegedly involved in scouring the garage after the murder. 

Detective Jason Gasper revealed that the Colorado mother believed that her daughter suffered sexual assault at the hands of Simmons' stepfather, whom she stabbed in 2019 after a furious dispute over custody.

During the trial, Ceja's parents, Karen and Barry Joseph Fancher, gave heart-breaking victim-impact statements. 

'Dax [Ceja] was a good person. He didn't deserve to go out this way,' father Barry Fancher said.

'[He] was killed for something he did 24 years ago,' Karen Fancher said. 'She won't be on the street to hurt anyone else's families like she has done her whole entire life.'

In addition to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Simmons was sentenced to 24 years for tampering with a deceased body, and three years for tampering with physical evidence.

In a statement, the DA said that she had been charged with first-degree murder after deliberation, violent crime with a weapon, tampering with a deceased human body, among other things.

'The successful outcome in this case, against a woman who has proven herself to be a danger to members of our community, took the dedication and perseverance of many members of my office,' said District Attorney Michael Allen.