Man Sentenced For Fire That Killed Family Who He Wrongly Believed Stole His Phone

DENVER (AP) — In between shifts at Amazon to earn money she could send home to her relatives in Senegal — working opposite times as her sister-in-law so they could care for each other’s children — Hassan Diol would call to talk to her husband several times a day.

Amadou Beye was still in Senegal, trying to get a visa so he could also come to the United States. His wife, joined by their infant daughter, would also video call every day. Amadou Beye couldn’t wait to meet his child and see his wife again.

But he never got that chance.

Diol, 25, and their little daughter, Hawa, and three other members of their extended family were killed in a house fire in Denver in 2020 that authorities said was set in the middle of the night by a group of teens in a case of mistaken revenge.

Kevin Bui, the last of the three suspects, was sentenced to prison for 60 years during a hearing Tuesday after pleading guilty to reduced charges in a plea deal.

Beye sees Bui, now 20, as a “terrorist” for taking five members of one family, which also included his wife’s 29-year-old brother, Djibril Diol, who was an engineer; Djibril Diol’s 23-year-old wife, Adja Diol; and their 22-month-old daughter, Khadija.

Their bodies were found on the first floor of the home near the front door as they apparently tried to escape the flames. Members of another family that also lived in the home managed to escape.

When he was killed, Djibril Diol was working on a large rebuilding of Interstate 70 in Denver and dreamed about returning to Senegal to build roads there, according to previous testimony from friends and family.

Beye, who was granted an emergency visa after the fire, works as a mover and tries to avoid being alone in the evenings to keep from thinking