After waiting nearly four years to see justice served, a Black Senegalese community in Colorado has learned the fate of the ringleader of a revenge plot that killed five innocent family members after he set the wrong home ablaze over a stolen iPhone.
On Tuesday, July 2, Kevin Bui, 20, was sentenced to the maximum allowable sentence of 60 years behind bars by Judge Karen L. Brody of the Second Judicial District Court. Bui was the mastermind behind the plan to set a house fire that killed three adults, a toddler and a 6-month-old in 2020.
The victims were Djibril “Jibby” Diol, his 23-year-old wife Adja, and their 21-month-old daughter, Khadija, as well as Diol’s sister Hassan Beye and her 6-month-old daughter, Hawa Beye. Three other victims escaped the fire by jumping out of a second-story window and sustaining broken bones and other injuries.
Bui is the last of three suspects to be sentenced. His friends Gavin Seymour, 20, and Dillon Siebert, 19, were sentenced to 40 years and 10 years, respectively. Siebert’s 10 years include three years in a juvenile detention center and an additional seven years in Youth Offender Services.
After making a plea deal with prosecutors in May, Bui pled guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. In exchange, the state dropped 60 additional charges against him.
Amadou Beye lost his wife, Hassan, and daughter, Hawa, in the fire. He said the punishment does not fit the crime, noting he is suicidal and must take medication to sleep.
“That’s not enough. That will always burn my heart,” Beye told reporters, according to CBS News. “Every time I am going to think about 60 years for someone who killed five people, it’s going to make me suffer again.”
“I won’t forgive him for what he has done. He killed my wife and my daughter and he destroyed my life.” Beye told Fox 3 in a separate interview when Seymour was sentenced. “I hate him. I hate the guy. I hate all of them.”
Family friend Ausman Ba tried to find the silver lining. “We’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time. We’ve been grieving [and we’re] still grieving and this is just a step towards closure,” Ba told the media after Bui’s sentencing.
“It’s not the closure we wanted but … finally, we just don’t have to deal with the suspects anymore and we can really just mourn and talk about the amazing individuals that we lost,” Ba continued.
The senseless tragedy unfolded on Aug. 5, 2020, in Denver’s Green Valley Ranch neighborhood, roughly a month after Bui said he had been robbed of his phone, money and shoes while trying to purchase a gun.
Bui, who was only 16 at the time, used the “Find My iPhone” app to track the location of his phone and enlisted Seymour and Siebert, who were 16 and 15 at the time, to help him plan his retaliation. However, they targeted the wrong home. None of the family members were responsible for stealing Bui’s phone.
According to an arrest affidavit, surveillance footage shows the friends wearing masks on the corner, pointing inside the victims’ home, and running away from the direction of the house.
Police said surveillance also shows the trio held gasoline cans and were caught on video purchasing the masks from a nearby store prior to the crime.
Since Bui was the last to be sentenced, Beye, Ba and other family members and friends have been in and out of court at each suspect’s hearings.
“You don’t deserve jail – you deserve the death penalty – but since we don’t have that in Colorado – give the maximum,” family member Hapsa Ba said during Seymour’s sentencing.
Bui told the court he takes full responsibility for his actions and doesn’t expect forgiveness but hopes the family can move forward and find some level of joy and peace, CBS Colorado reported.
