Colo. Woman Sentenced For Killing Man She Claimed Was Sex Offender: 'Unrestrained Hatred'

Prosecutors said Deka Simmons, 40, killed Daxcimo Ceja after learning he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a minor when he was an adult

A Colorado woman who killed a man she alleged was a sex offender will spend the rest of her life behind bars, authorities said.

On Wednesday, Aug. 21, Deka Simmons, 40, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being found guilty of the 2022 murder of Daxcimo Ceja, according to a press release from the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office.

Ceja’s remains were found on Oct. 5, 2023 inside a bag in a drainage culvert in Colorado Springs after local police responded to an anonymous tip, they previously said. According to police, an investigation into Ceja’s homicide began on March 30, 2022 and Simmons was arrested on a first-degree murder charge in relation to the case that April.

Prosecutors said Simmons killed Ceja, 48, in a garage after learning he allegedly had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl when he was 25 in California, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. The outlet reports that prosecutors described Simmons as someone who “has an unrestrained hatred for anyone who would molest a child,” further noting Simmons’ fear of her daughter being a victim of sex trafficking.

Ceja’s mother, Karen Fancher, spoke in court at the sentencing, saying, “[Ceja] was killed for something he did 24 years ago,” per the Gazette. “[Simmons] won’t be on the street to hurt anyone else’s families like she has done her whole entire life.”

Ceja was not listed as a convicted sex offender in the state of California, where the alleged relationship took place, according to online Megan's Law records. PEOPLE's call for clarification to the Office of the District Attorney, Fourth Judicial District of Colorado was not immediately returned.

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The outlet reports that Simmons has been suspected in three other homicides but hasn't been charged in connection with any killings aside from Ceja's.

Simmons was also ordered to serve an additional 24 years for tampering with a dead body and another three years for tampering with physical evidence. Her sentences will be served consecutively, per the judge’s order, prosecutors said.

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