Arizona Woman Charged with Murder-for-Hire

Sierra Lee Simental
(Phoenix, Arizona) A 23-year-old local woman, Sierra Lee Simental, has been accused of trying to hire somebody to murder her ex-boyfriend, the father of her 5-year-old daughter.

Using court records, detectives determined that Isaac Minjares Martinez was Simental's likely target. The two have had issues with custody of their daughter. But Martinez told us he thought those issues were a thing of the past.

"Me and her had our problems, that's about it," Martinez said. "But I would never think it's go to this far, that she would do something to this magnitude. Like i said, I thought we were fine the last year."

An undercover detective set up a meeting with Simental and he recorded everything.

"Simental said that she wanted her ex-boyfriend killed over child custody issues and finances," reads the probable cause statement. "She did not have the funds to pay for the murder, but was willing to assist [the undercover detective] in his illegal drug smuggling operation as payment."

Simental was booked with bond set at $100,000.