Teen Arsonist Who Set Fire To Wrong Home Sentenced to 60 Years

Teen Arsonist Who Set Fire To Wrong Home Sentenced to 60 Years

The leader of a teenage gang responsible for setting a fire that killed two babies and three adults in a mistaken act of revenge for a stolen iPhone in Colorado has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.

Kevin Bui, 20, accepted a plea deal after admitting to setting fire to a Denver home where eight innocent people were sleeping in August 2020.

Bui and two accomplices broke into the Green Valley Ranch home, doused the walls with gasoline, and set it on fire, trapping the family inside. While three people managed to escape by jumping from a second-story window, the bodies of Djibril Diol, his wife Adja, their 21-month-old daughter Khadija, along with Diol’s sister Hassan and her six-month-old daughter Hawa, were found near the front door.

“This isn’t the closure I imagined, but it’s the best we could get,” said family friend Ousman Ba. Bui, along with Gavin Seymour, 16, and Dillon Siebert, 14, had spent weeks planning the attack, mistakenly identifying the house using the ‘Find My iPhone’ app to track the location of Bui’s stolen device to the neighborhood.

The trio bought hockey masks from a costume store and were captured on surveillance footage carrying gasoline cans to the house on the night of the fire.

Denver police officer Gordon King was one of the first responders and heard someone trying to unlock the front door from inside.

Despite kicking in the door, he was forced back by the intense heat. He saw a small body inside, but could not rescue the person due to the extreme heat.

Investigators initially had few leads until they obtained Google search data on anyone who had looked up the Truckee Street address in the two weeks prior to the fire. This data, combined with cell phone location information, placed Bui, Seymour, and Siebert at the scene.

The trio tried to cover their tracks by searching online for information about the fire and potential prison sentences for murder. They were arrested in January 2021 and charged with multiple crimes, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon.

Siebert received a ten-year sentence in February 2023 for his involvement in the crime. Seymour pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in March and was sentenced to 40 years in prison followed by five years of mandatory parole.

On Friday, Bui’s legal team reached a deal with the Denver District Attorney’s Office, agreeing to a 60-year sentence in exchange for the dismissal of 60 additional criminal charges. Bui’s father, Thuan Bui, accepted the plea deal.

The murdered family, originally from Senegal, had come to the U.S. seeking a better life. Djibril Diol, a Colorado State University graduate in civil engineering, was working for Kiewit construction, and his family was temporarily staying with friends at the time of the fire.

The murders shocked Denver’s Senegalese community and prompted condolences from Senegal’s president.

Family members watched Seymour’s sentencing online from Senegal, where Amadou Beye, who lost his wife Hassan and six-month-old daughter Hawa, addressed him directly in court.

“I hope when you die you will die slow and hard,” Beye told Seymour. “And you will die young. And when you die, I hope you will feel all the pain they felt when they were dying. And you will feel all the pain that we feel right now.”

Seymour expressed remorse in court, stating, “If I could go back and prevent all this I would. There is not a moment that goes by that I don’t feel extreme guilt and remorse for my actions. I want to say how truly sorry I am to the family members and community for all the harm I’ve done.”

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