Bui, 16, was identified by the prosecution as the leader of three friends who organized the fire that claimed the lives of the Senegalese family, which included two young girls.
The family of five was killed in a late-night fire in a Denver neighborhood in August 2020, which Kevin Bui, now 20 years old, admitted to starting last week.
Along with their relative Hassan Diol, 25, and her 6-month-old baby Hawa Beye, Djibril Diol, 29, Adja Diol, 23, and their 22-month-old daughter Khadija Diol perished in the fire.
When they leaped from the house’s second story in the middle of the night to get away, three other people broke their bones.
The fire claimed the lives of Djibril Diol, 29, Adja Diol, 23, and their 22-month-old daughter Khadija Diol. It also claimed the lives of their relative Hassan Diol, 25, and her 6-month-old daughter Hawa Beye.
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On surveillance footage, Bui and his two friends were seen wearing full face masks and black hoodies as they set fire to the house. Police identified the three as suspects after obtaining a search warrant to compel Google to reveal IP addresses that had searched the house’s address within 15 days prior to the fire.
Some five months after the fire, the teenagers were taken into custody.
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14-year-old Dillon Siebert was sentenced to seven years in a state prison program for juvenile offenders and three years in juvenile detention after entering a guilty plea to second-degree murder last year. Gavin Seymour, 19, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after he admitted guilt to one count of second-degree murder in March.
Confronted as an adult, Bui entered into a plea deal pledging to serve a minimum of 60 years in prison, 30 years for each count of second-degree murder. Prosecutors dropped sixty more charges against Bui as part of the agreement, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, arson, and burglary.
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