One of three teenagers who set fire to a Denver home, killing five members of a Senegalese family, including an infant and toddler, was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Gavin Seymour, 19, was sentenced to the longest prison term for second-degree murder after dozens of grieving family members spoke out against the teenage killer.
Last month, he set fire to a house in the middle of the night in August 2020, killing Jibril Deol, 29, his wife Aja Deol, 23, their daughter Khadija Deol, 1, and Jibril’s younger sister. pled guilty to murdering Hassan Deol. My 25 year old daughter and my 6 month old Hawa Bai.
“Even if you kill five sheep or five goats, you should receive the maximum sentence,” Hanadi Diol, Jibril and Hassan’s father, told the court via an interpreter over the phone from Senegal. The Dever Post reported.
“This person here is talking about 40 years or 30 years. That means there’s no justice there. There’s no judgment that the person who died was a human being.”
Seymour was 16 years old when he committed the dastardly act, which prosecutors said was directed by his friend Kevin Bui, who mistakenly believed someone living in the house had stolen his phone.
Investigators said the two 16-year-olds and Dillon Siebert, then 14, had been planning the fire for weeks.
Only three people survived by jumping from the second floor of their home during the fire.
KDVR
Prosecutors said Djibril Deol tried to lead his wife and 1-year-old daughter through the flames and ran down the stairs, but collapsed just near the door.
Seymour learned the next morning that he and his friends had killed his family. Online records show Seymour was reading news stories about the deaths and searching for information about prison sentences for murder.
It took months for investigators to identify the teens after police obtained a search warrant asking Google to find out which accounts had searched for the home’s address within 15 days of the fire.
“This is the worst and most senseless murder investigation I have ever investigated,” Denver Police Detective Neil Baker said in court.
“I can’t think of anyone more deserving of the maximum sentence… There were five victims. Two were babies.”
Seymour accepted a plea deal in January that carries a sentencing range of 16 to 40 years.
He apologized in court Friday for his role in the fire.
“If I could go back in time and stop all of this, I would,” Seymour said. “There is not a moment that goes by that I don’t feel extreme guilt and remorse for my actions. … I want to say to my family and community that I am truly sorry for any harm that I have caused.”
Siebert, who was 14 at the time of the fire, was 17 when he was sentenced in February 2023 to three years in juvenile detention and seven years in the state’s youth prison program.
Bui has been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and is scheduled to next appear in court on March 21.
