Three teens have been charged with murder after authorities say they lit a house on fire in Denver last year, killing five Senegalese immigrants.
Two 16-year-olds, Kevin Bui and Gavin Seymour, and a 15-year-old, whose name has not been released since he is a minor, are being charged with setting the fire, Denver District Attorney Beth McCann said in a release Tuesday. Bui and Seymour are being charged as adults.
The August fire killed five members of a Senegalese family: Djbril and Adja Diol, along with their 2-year-old daughter, and Djibril’s sister Hassan, along with her infant daughter. Three people were able to escape the home by jumping from the second floor.
Bui and Seymour’s case will go to Denver District Court with 60 felony counts including first-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree and second-degree assault, first- and fourth-degree arson, first- and second-degree burglary, conspiracy charges and other sentencing enhancers.
The 15-year-old’s case is going to juvenile court, but prosecutors are working to get the teen charged as an adult and the case moved to Denver District Court.
He is being charged with 47 counts including first-degree murder, attempted murder, first-degree and second-degree assault, first- and fourth-degree arson, first- and second- degree burglary, conspiracy charges and a sentence enhancer of aggravated juvenile offender.
The statement did not include details on motivation, though Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen has said that it appeared the crime did not revolve around race.
"The evidence that we have uncovered and the circumstances and facts that we have found do not indicate that this is a bias-motivated crime," he said, according to ABC News.
The arrest affidavits are currently sealed so no more information about the case is available as of now.