Woman with ‘unrestrained hatred’ for child predators hunts down, kills and dismembers a wanted sex offender: police

A Colorado woman has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murder of a registered sex offender, a crime prosecutors say stemmed from her deep-seated obsession with punishing those she believed to be child molesters.

40-year-old Deka Simmons was convicted of first-degree murder and tampering with a body and physical evidence in the death of 48-year-old Daxcimo Ceja. Following her conviction, she received an additional 24-year sentence for tampering with Ceja’s body and another three years for tampering with physical evidence.

According to prosecutors, Simmons targeted Ceja because of “his past—a relationship with a 17-year-old girl when he was 25, which had resulted in his status as a registered sex offender.” At the time of his murder, Ceja had a warrant out for failing to register as a sex offender.

Prosecutor Sharon Flaherty described Simmons as having an “unrestrained hatred” and a “fixation” on anyone she believed to be a child molester, which ultimately led her to kill Ceja.

During the trial, emotional statements were made by Ceja’s parents, Karen and Barry Joseph Fancher. They expressed their grief and anger, with Karen stating, “He was killed for something he did 24 years ago,” and saying that Simmons would no longer be able to harm other families.

Barry Fancher defended his son, saying, “Dax was a good person. He didn’t deserve to go out this way.”

The gruesome details of the crime were revealed in court. A witness testified that Simmons shot Ceja in a garage, dismembered his body, and stored it in a freezer before transporting his remains in a van.

Police connected Simmons to the murder through DNA evidence found in the garage. Although she was charged with the murder in April 2022, Ceja’s body was not discovered until October 2023, when an anonymous tip led authorities to his remains, found in a bag in a drainage culvert.

Simmons’ criminal history is extensive, including a prior conviction for being an accessory to the killing of a former fellow inmate in the El Paso County Jail and an assault charge for stabbing her stepfather during a custody dispute over her daughter.

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Despite her history, it was this fixation on punishing those she deemed guilty of child-related offenses that ultimately led to her life sentence.