GOLDEN, Colo. — Both juveniles have now been sentenced in connection with a 2022 apartment fire in Lakewood that killed a mother and her 10-year-old daughter, injured several others, and displaced every resident at the complex.
Because the defendants in this case are juveniles, their names have not been released.
Last week, the second juvenile, who is now 15 years old, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree arson, as well as two sentence enhancers, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office. A judge handed down the maximum sentence of seven years in the Colorado Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services, with two years of pre-sentence confinement credit.
This came after a lengthy competency process, which started in January 2023, according to the district attorney's office.
“Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice for the many members of our community impacted by this senseless fire," said Deputy District Attorney Riley Gonya. "While nothing can restore the lives lost, the homes destroyed, or the sense of safety that was shattered, we hope this outcome provides a sense of closure and allows everyone involved to finally begin the long process of healing.”
The first juvenile pleaded guilty to the same charges in November 2023. He was sentenced to seven years in the Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services.
“We will never stop grieving the loss of our beloved girls, Katie and Jazzy," family members said in a statement.
The fire, which damaged many units at the Tiffany Square Apartments off Sheridan Boulevard early on Oct. 31, 2022, killed 31-year-old Kathleen Payton and her 10-year-old daughter Jazmine Payton-Aguayo. Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School said in a letter to families that Payton-Aguayo was a fourth grader at Deane Elementary School.
Ten others were injured — including a family that had to jump from the second story — and many more were displaced.
Investigators later determined that two boys, who were then 12 and 14 years old, were asked to leave a friend's apartment at the complex, and they later returned just before 4 a.m. and set bushes on fire outside the apartment, the district attorney's office said. The fire grew to engulf the entire complex.
Payton and her daughter were trapped in their apartment and died of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, the district attorney's office said.
Investigators found surveillance footage of the two juveniles setting the fire, watching it grow and then fleeing the scene. They were later found and arrested, and have been in custody since then.
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