Dead-eyed Colorado teenager is jailed for 40 years for burning baby, toddler and three adults alive in their home in horrific case of mistaken identity – with dad who lost wife and kids insisting quadruple-killer should be EXECUTED

A Colorado teenager has been jailed for 40 years for burning a baby, a toddler and three adults alive in their home in a horrific arson attack.

Gavin Seymour, now 19, was 16 when he started a house fire that killed five Senegalese family members in Green Valley Ranch, Denver on August 5, 2020.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received the maximum sentence he could face in Denver District Court on Friday.

Investigators said the attack was a case of mistaken identity in a drug deal gone wrong. A man, woman and child were able to survive the fire by jumping from a second-story window.

Amadou Beye, who lost his wife Hassan Diol and six-month-old daughter Hawa, called for Seymour to be executed for his crimes, telling KDVR: ‘This is not justice. If I could get the death penalty or a life sentence, that would be justice.’

Hassan Diol’s brother, Djibril, his wife, Adja Diol, and their 22-month-old daughter, Khadija, were also killed in the fire. Their bodies were found on the first floor of the home near the front door.

Seymour, who was charged along with teenagers Kevin Bui and Dillon Siebert, 19, was sentenced to 40 years in prison and five years of mandatory parole.

Judge Karen Brody said: ‘This is a tragedy that is, I’m sure for everyone involved, incomprehensible. There was a loss of the most innocent lives.’

Seymour apologized in court on Friday, saying: ‘If I could go back and prevent all of this, I would.

‘Not a moment goes by when I don’t feel extreme guilt and remorse for my actions. …I want to say how sorry I am to the family members and the community for all the harm I have done.’

Addressing Seymour in court, Beye said: ‘I hope that when you die, you die slow and hard.

And you will die young. And when you die, I hope you will feel all the pain they felt when they died. And you will feel all the pain that we are feeling right now.’

Hanady Diol, who lost his son Djibril and daughter Hassan in the fire, said he considered suicide after their deaths.

“Even if you kill five sheep or goats, you should get the maximum sentence,” he told the court.

‘This person here, they’re talking about 40 or 30 years. It just means there is no justice there. There is no assessment that the people who died are people.’

Siebert, who was 14 at the time of the arson, was sentenced in February 2023 to ten years behind bars for his role in the crime.

Bui’s arraignment is set for next week, and he faces charges including first-degree murder with extreme indifference, attempted murder with extreme indifference, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.

Denver Police Detective Neil Baker told the court: ‘This is by far the worst, most senseless homicide investigation I have ever investigated.

‘I can’t think of anyone more deserving of a maximum sentence… There are five victims. Two were babies.’