DENVER — A judge sentenced the last person involved in starting a house fire that killed five people in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood, nearly four years ago, to 60 years in prison Tuesday. This was part of a plea agreement reached earlier this year.
"We lost five people who brought joy to everyone they knew. They were here to make their dreams come true," the prosecution said Tuesday.
Kevin Bui's sentencing Tuesday closes one of the darkest chapters in Denver history, according to the prosecution.
Bui, who pleaded guilty on May 17, agreed to serve 60 years in the Department of Corrections for two counts of second-degree murder (which normally carries a sentence of up to 48 years in prison for each count) in connection with the Aug. 5, 2020 fatal fire.
Each count that Bui agreed to, instead, carries a sentence of 30 years in the DOC to be served consecutively, totaling 60 years. Bui's pre-sentence confinement will count toward that total, according to the judge Tuesday.
Dozens of other charges against Bui, as well as a separate case in which he was accused of distributing drugs while in jail in 2022, were dismissed as part of the deal.
In January 2021, Bui and two teenagers — Gavin Seymour and Dillon Siebert — were accused of intentionally setting the house on fire in the middle of the night. The trio incorrectly thought Bui's stolen iPhone was in the home and set it ablaze as revenge, according to an arrest affidavit.
"I hope that we can acknowledge that even if had been the right family, burning their house down and killing everyone inside would’ve been a horrific, antisocial, confounding choice to make," the prosecution said Tuesday.
Djibril Diol, 29, Adja Diol, 23, Khadija Diol, 2, Hassan Diol, 25, and 6-month-old Hawa Baye were killed as a result.
On Tuesday, friends and family described Djibril "Jibby" Diol as one of the most studious and hardest working people they knew. A roommate described going to sleep and Jibby would be studying, only to wake up and still find him studying. He wanted to become an engineer.
"These were the best of the best people who came to this country hoping for a better life," the judge presiding over Bui's case said Tuesday during his sentencing.
Another roommate played a video of Jibby dancing and laughing, filling their house in Fort Collins with joy.
Even in death, his loved ones described Jibby as a hero as he tried to guide the people in the house to safety during the fire, the survivors told investigators.
Crime
19-year-old sentenced to 40 years in case of deadly arson in Green Valley Ranch
Bui's two co-defendants both pleaded guilty previously.
In February 2023, Siebert was sentenced to seven years in district court, as well as a suspended sentence of 26 years should he violate the terms of that sentence, according to Denver District Attorney Beth McCann. He was also sentenced to three years in juvenile court.
In January 2024, Seymour pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He faced between 16 and 40 years in prison on the single count. Dozens of other charges were also dismissed as part of his deal.
Local
Teen sentenced in case of Green Valley Ranch arson that killed Senegalese family
Bui was the last of the trio to be sentenced.
The case against Bui was stalled for several months while the Colorado Supreme Court considered whether the methods used by police to identify them as suspects in the arson were legal in the first place.
While Seymour and Siebert participated, the prosecution said Tuesday, "what is clear is Kevin was the leader in every way... While yes, it is necessary the other two pay for their crimes, it is also a tragedy that their lives were forever changed by being roped into his plan."
At Bui's sentencing Tuesday, 11 people made statements about how this case has impacted them.
That included one of the detectives who worked on the investigation to find the three people responsible for the fire. He described it as one of the most senseless murder investigations he has been a part of.
"I just wanted to be able to speak on behalf of the family and City of Denver. Our heart breaks for this family. We owed it to get up and tell their stories," Det. Neil Baker said.
The family members and friends who spoke Tuesday recounted, for what the prosecution estimated was the seventh time, how having to wait months to learn who was behind the arson created divisions in the Senegalese community. The people testifying explained how no one knew if it was someone they trusted or if they were targeted because the people killed were Black, Muslim or immigrants.
The people speaking Tuesday said, beyond honoring the victims whose lives were lost and the other people who were directly impacted, they want justice for the Senegalese people.
While almost four years have passed since the five people died, the loved ones who spoke Tuesday said they haven't had a chance to grieve.
"We have spent most of our lives in this courtroom. Our lives have revolved around the court cases," one of the victim's family members said.
"It feels like it just happened yesterday," another person said.
The husband of one of the victims who died was in the Senegalese military when the fire happened. He said he has since lost his job dealing with the death of his wife and child and the subsequent court cases prosecuting Seymour, Siebert and Bui.
Many people shared stories about having trouble sleeping and struggling to be alone with their thoughts because they remember what happened.
Bui also spoke Tuesday before his official sentencing.
"I take full responsibility. It is not Dylan's fault. It is not Gavin's fault. I don’t want to ask you for forgiveness, defend or explain myself. It doesn’t change the end result. I acknowledge the consequences of my decisions. I just wish it doesn’t consume you longer than it already has. I pray you can eventually let go of our fear, that you can find some peace and joy again," Bui said.
Restitution was not decided during Tuesday's sentencing. The prosecution and defense have 49 days for the People to file a motion of restitution.
After the sentencing, Ousman Ba, sibling of Djibril Diol and Adja Diol, said his family has been grieving for years and while this is a step toward closure, the tragedy will impact generations to come.
"We lost babies. We lost fathers. We love mothers, aunties, and it's just it's hard," he said. "We lost five individuals and five family members — gone. The trauma — it's impacting not only this community (but) across the nation, and it's still impacting people to this day."
Lamine Kane said more people wanted to address the court on Tuesday, but could not bring themselves to speak. What happened in court that day was not justice, Kane said.
"Remember those people, and then the way that they were taken away in an arson that was planned for days and then acted upon," Kane said. "And then we just get this 60 years, which is not even going to serve fully."
In a press release sent after Tuesday's hearing, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said:
“As the ringleader of this deeply disturbing and utterly senseless crime, Kevin Bui deserved exactly what he received today: the longest sentence of the three defendants in the case. Were it not for his actions, five completely innocent victims would still be alive today. It is my hope that his sentence will bring some measure of comfort and a sense of justice to the victims’ families and friends. I want to thank the prosecutors, investigators, victim advocates and legal secretaries in my office, as well as the detectives with the Denver Police Department and the members of the Denver Fire Department and the ATF, whose outstanding work on the case resulted in a successful outcome."
