Accused Colorado Springs murderer implicated in Colorado Springs man's disappearance during hearing

Oct. 7—A preliminary hearing on Friday revealed that accused murderer Deka Jean Simmons is a suspect in an additional homicide that may be connected to a missing Colorado Springs man.

During the testimony of the final witness of the hearing, Colorado Springs Police Detective Nicole Black, the prosecution briefly brought up that Simmons is a suspect in an additional potential homicide, connecting her to the disappearance of Santino "Tino" Cardella.

Cardella, 27, was reported missing in April earlier this year.

Additionally, Black discussed that a confidential informant with the Police Department claimed Simmons had killed at least three other people besides Ceja, who she is currently facing charges for killing.

Cardella is the only person whom the prosecution noted as Simmons potentially being involved with, but she is not charged in his disappearance.

Simmons has been accused of first-degree murder three times and served 12 years in the Department of Corrections for an accessory to murder charge in 2002.

Simmons, 39, had her preliminary hearing begin on Thursday where the prosecution called four witnesses to the stand to testify.

The witnesses during the hearing outlined how they believe Simmons on Feb. 16, 2022, shot and killed Ceja before hiding the body and attempting to clean the murder scene, a garage in northern Colorado Springs.

Prosecution drew connections between Ceja's status as a sex offender and Simmons' documented feelings about sexual predators, suggesting it could be the motivation for the murder.

CSPD Detective Jerry Schiffelbei testified that one of Simmons' former jail roommates told him that Simmons once said she killed a man because she believed he was a child molester.

Black stated on Friday that Ceja had been convicted of a misdemeanor sexual assault when he was 19 years old and living in California, and was registered as a sex offender in Colorado.

Another testimony by Detective Jason Gasper revealed Simmons has a 5-year-old daughter who she perceives to be a sexual assault victim at the hands of Simmons' stepfather, whom she stabbed in 2019 following a verbal altercation over custody. She was charged with second-degree assault and sent to prison.

The biggest piece of evidence came on Friday, when the prosecution played a 30-minute segment of a three-hour interview with a former roommate of Simmons' and the owner of the garage where Ceja allegedly died.

During the interview, the woman tells police that on the night of Feb. 16 Simmons showed up with Ceja at her home unannounced for a drug deal. Simmons brought the two of them into the garage where she eventually pulled out a handgun and shot Ceja in the head three times, according to the woman's interview.

During the interview the women can be heard crying and stating over and over that she was fearful for the her and her son's lives because Simmons said that if she told anyone she would come back and kill them both.

"I'm so scared," the woman can be heard telling detectives. "Please don't tell (Simmons)."

Testimony on Thursday revealed that the garage where Ceja was allegedly killed had over 300 small blood stains, and DNA samples matched the blood to Ceja's.

Currently, Ceja's body has still not been found, but the prosecution stated during closing arguments that there is overwhelming evidence to support Ceja having been killed and dismembered in the garage, before being transported elsewhere.

The prosecution firmly believes there is no chance Ceja is still alive.

The topic of Simmons' involvement in potentially killing Cardella began when Black was discussing rumors that CSPD had investigated about the potential location of Ceja's body. The prosecution at one point wished to clarify that at least one of the rumored body locations mentioned was actually a rumor circulating about the body of Cardella, and not Ceja.

During closing arguments, Simmons' defense attorney David Lipka stated that there hadn't been sufficient evidence to prove probable cause presented to the court as there was no murder weapon found, no DNA belonging to Simmons, and that there Ceja's body has yet to even be found.

Simmons' defense also attempted to undermine the witness who claimed to have witnessed seeing Simmons shoot Ceja because she was a methamphetamine user and was allegedly high on methamphetamines during the interview played in court.

After hearing closing arguments, Judge David Gilbert ruled that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence to move toward a jury trial of Simmons, and for her to continue to be held without bond.

"There's voluminous evidence," Gilbert said in reference to evidence suggesting Simmons killed Ceja.

Despite the ruling, Gilbert expressed concerns about the status of forensic evidence in the case as it's been six months since Ceja's death and there has been very little forensic evidence processed, according to the judge.

Simmons will return to 4th Judicial District Court on Nov. 15 for an arraignment hearing, where Simmons could enter a plea and a jury trial date could be set.

Simmons remains in custody at El Paso County jail.