Woman with “unbridled hatred” of child molesters killed and dismembered alleged sex offender, prosecutor says

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (KKTV/Gray News) – A Colorado woman who harbored an “uncontrollable hatred” of child molesters will spend the rest of her life behind bars after killing and dismembering a suspected wanted sex offender.

Authorities said 38-year-old Deka Simmons was sentenced to life in prison without parole after a two-year murder investigation.

In April 2022, Simmons was initially arrested for the murder of 48-year-old Daxcimo Ceja. His body had not yet been found at that time.

A year later, police received an anonymous tip that human remains were found in a bag in a sewage ditch. Officers positively identified the human remains as those of Ceja, KKTV reported.

Simmons was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, violent crime with a weapon, violent crime resulting in death, tampering with evidence and tampering with a human body.

Prosecutor Sharon Flaherty said in her closing argument that Simmons killed Ceja because he was a registered sex offender who had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl when he was 25. Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

There was an arrest warrant out for Ceja because he had not registered as a sex offender at the time of his murder. the outlet reported.

“(Simmons) has an immense hatred for anyone who abuses a child,” Flaherty said.

According to police, Simmons shot Ceja in a garage, dismembered his body and stored it in a freezer before loading the remains into a van.

Officers linked Simmons to the murder through DNA analysis of blood in the garage, the newspaper reported.

Simmons was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 24 years for bodily harm and three years for tampering with evidence.

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