One of three teenagers charged with starting a Denver house fire that killed five people — apparently out of revenge for a stolen cellphone that was mistakenly traced to the home — was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison.
Gavin Seymour, 19, pleaded guilty in January to one count of second-degree murder for his role in the Aug. 5, 2020, fire that killed five members of a Senegalese family. Denver District Court Judge Karen Brody sentenced him to the maximum possible term he faced, The Denver Post reported.
“This is a tragedy that is, I’m sure for everyone involved, incomprehensible,” Brody said. “There was a loss of the most innocent of lives.”
Seymour and two other teenagers — Kevin Bui and Dillon Siebert — were charged with setting the fire in the middle of the night, killing family members Djibril Diol, 29; Adja Diol, 23; Khadija Diol, 1; Hassan Diol, 25; and 6-month-old Hawa Baye. Three other people escaped by jumping from the second floor of the home.
Was 14 when he did it. Threw his whole life away and took 5 innocent lives with it. So sad.
not his whole life. Sentence should be 80 years just to make sure it’s his whole life though.
His future after the prison time ends is not going to be too bright, I think
Good
I’m not sure if it is. That’s most likely going be a retribution rather than correction, so the society is unlikely to become better as a result. But that’s a complicated matter, truly
Not all people can be fixed.
Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, and the American justice system doesn’t fucking try
I agree that the US prison system doesn’t rehabilitate, when it should. However, in the case where a person commits a multiple homicide and arson over the possibility their phone might be at a location, they should not see the light of day again.
Unfortunately so