In 2020, a Colorado man named Kevin Bui, who was a teenager at the time, pleaded guilty to murder charges for starting a house fire that resulted in the death of five members of a Senegalese family. Bui believed that the individuals who had recently stolen his iPhone were living in the house, leading him to start the fire. He entered a guilty plea to two counts of second-degree murder and faces a potential sentence of up to 60 years in prison, with a maximum penalty of 48 years for each count. The sentencing is set for July 2, and Bui’s parents were present in court during the hearing.
Djibril Diol, Adja Diol, and their daughter Khadija Diol, along with Hassan Diol and her baby, were among the victims of the fire, with three others managing to escape by jumping from the second floor. The families of the victims, while originally hoping for a life sentence without parole, supported the plea agreement as the best option for the case after nearly four years. Ousman Ba, a spokesperson for the families, expressed gratitude for the prosecutors’ efforts to keep them informed and stated that as Muslims, they believe justice will be served by Allah.
In addition to the murder charges, Bui faced 60 other charges, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, arson, and burglary, but these were dropped under the plea deal. Bui was the last of three friends involved in the fire to enter a plea, with the other two receiving sentences of three years in juvenile detention and seven years in a state prison program, and 40 years in prison, respectively. The investigation of the fire initially had no leads until surveillance footage and search warrants to Google for IP addresses led to the identification and arrest of the suspects.
The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the use of search warrants for Google user data in this case, which some critics have argued is a breach of privacy and violates constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. The court clarified that its ruling was specific to this case and did not make a broad declaration on the constitutionality of such warrants. The investigation of the fire lasted for months, causing fear within the Senegalese immigrant community that they could be targeted in hate crimes, leading many to install security cameras for protection. Despite the tragic outcome of the fire, the families of the victims ultimately accepted the plea agreement as a way to bring closure to the case and move forward.
