A Colorado woman, identified as Deka Simmons, 40, has been sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the murder of a registered sex offender, Daxcimo Ceja, 48. The sentencing came immediately after Simmons was found guilty of first-degree murder and tampering with a body and physical evidence, according to prosecutors. In addition to her life sentence, Simmons was given an extra 24 years for tampering with a body and an additional three years for tampering with physical evidence.
Prosecutor Sharon Flaherty argued that Simmons’ motive for killing Ceja was his status as a registered sex offender. Ceja had been involved with a 17-year-old girl when he was 25, a fact that reportedly fueled Simmons’ intense hatred for child molesters. At the time of his death, Ceja had an outstanding warrant for failing to register as a sex offender.
Flaherty described Simmons’ hatred for child molesters as “unrestrained,” characterizing it as a “fixation” and “paranoia.” During the trial, Ceja’s parents, Karen and Barry Joseph Fancher, delivered emotional victim-impact statements. Karen Fancher expressed relief that Simmons would no longer be able to harm other families, while Barry Fancher mourned the loss of his son, stating that Ceja did not deserve his fate.
Evidence presented during the trial included testimony from a witness who claimed that Simmons shot Ceja in a garage, dismembered his body, and stored it in a freezer before transporting the remains in a van. DNA from blood found in the garage linked Simmons to the murder, leading to her being charged in April 2022.
However, Ceja’s body was not discovered until October 2023, when an anonymous tip led authorities to human remains in a bag in a drainage culvert. Simmons’ criminal history includes a conviction for being an accessory to the killing of a former fellow inmate in the El Paso County Jail and assault for stabbing her stepfather during a custody dispute over her daughter.