ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. — A 27-year-old who was accused of killing a woman in Adams County about a week before he was due to report to jail for a sexual assault case has taken a plea deal.
Jacob "Jake" Daniel Schadler faced charges of first-degree murder after deliberation, motor vehicle theft, driving under the influence, two counts of criminal mischief and theft after he was arrested in July 2023. The charges are in connection with the death of Dominica Jacklyn Quesada, 26, whose body was found in a residence on Iola Street in unincorporated Adams County.
According to court documents, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and driving under the influence on Friday. His sentencing hearing is set for Dec. 12.
Following a brief story on Denver7.com on Aug. 1, 2023 about Schadler's arrest in connection with Quesada's death, multiple people quickly reached out to Denver7, requesting a Follow Up. One of those emails came from Shayna Duncan.
In an interview, Duncan explained that she had reconnected with Duncan years after they had gone to school together, and made plans to catch up. He invited her to his house in September 2020. He pulled a bed into his living room and sexually assaulted her, Duncan said. She went to the police, he was arrested in October of that year, and a three-years-long case began. She said she didn't want what happened to her to happen to anybody else.
Hear from Duncan in our August 2023 story below.
Delays popped up in the case. On Feb. 15, 2023, the sex assault charge, a Class 4 felony, was dismissed and Schadler pleaded guilty to sexual contact with no consent, which is a misdemeanor, according to court documents. He was sentenced on May 11, 2023 to 18 months of supervised probation and one of the conditions included 45 days in jail to be served as work release. He was ordered to turn himself into the Adams County Jail by June 30, 2023.
Two days before he was due at jail, on June 28, 2023, his defense filed a motion requesting a reconsideration of his sentence — specifically, to lower the jail sentence or let him serve it as in-home detention. The defense said Schadler's conviction prohibited him from participating in the work release program and he was "experiencing increased levels of anxiety," the documents read. The next few days went by and he did not turn himself into the jail on June 30, 2023, according to the documents.
In a document from July 13, 2023, prosecutors objected to the request for a sentence reconsideration, saying they were concerned about the defendant's unwillingness to comply with the terms of his sentence. They added that Schadler had not completed an intake appointment with the probation department, something that he claimed was the result of "various physical and mental health issues preventing him from starting probation," the documents read.
"The Defendant’s failure to start probation means the Defendant is in the community without any supervision and has been for over two months," the prosecution's documents read. "It also means the Defendant is engaging in no treatment."
He was also told to register as a sex offender by May 16, 2023, which he completed on June 6, 2023, according to the prosecution's response. Because it was a misdemeanor offense, it was not posted on Adams County's website.
In a July 19, 2023 document, a District Court Judge Kyle Seedorf denied the defendant's motion asking for a sentence reconsideration, noting that the defendant "did not indicate he understands the depth or scope of the harm he caused and did not demonstrate acceptance or accountability." The judge set a new remand date, ordering Schadler to turn himself into the Adams County Jail by 5 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2023 for the 45-day sentence.
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"Within a week of that, he invited a woman over to his house, just like he did with me, and he murdered her," Duncan wrote in her initial email to Denver7 in 2023. "This information needs to get out — how he should have been arrested and wasn’t. Please help me get my story out."
Schadler is accused of killing Quesada on July 27, 2023 — six days before he was due at jail.
He was in court in November for his preliminary trial, where both parties presented information for the judge, who ultimately decided there was enough evidence to move the case to trial. The prosecutors only called up Det. Tara Scully of the Adams County Sheriff's Office, who testified about responding to the 15000 block of Iola Street in unincorporated Adams County for a possible homicide investigation on July 27, 2023 around 4 a.m. Scully spoke with Schadler's grandfather, who lived at the home and who had found Quesada's body on a couch in a home office.
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In the days after Quesada's death, a coroner confirmed that her cause of death was strangulation and the manner was homicide. Based on the injuries and recovered evidence, the coroner ruled that a hammer was involved in the attack.
On Friday, Schadler pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and DUI. His sentencing is scheduled for December.
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