(Washington) – Three teenagers suspected of intentionally starting a fire that killed a Senegalese family last summer, including two children, were arrested in Colorado on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
We detained three minors for this crime. Police in Denver, the capital of Colorado, said the suspects, two of them 16 and 15, had been arrested “in Jefferson County.
The three suspects, who are men who know each other but are not related, will face several charges, including premeditated murder, attempted premeditated murder, and arson.
The killing of five Deol family members, Gabriel Driol, his wife Aga, and their three children, who were burned alive in their home fire last August in Denver, shocked residents, especially the Senegalese immigrant community. The state. Three residents of the house escaped from the fire by jumping from the windows of the house.
“I was very influenced,” said Michael Hancock, Democratic Mayor of Denver, at a news conference on Wednesday. “Many of us wondered who would have committed such a crime against this wonderful family.”
Pictures of criminals released by the police show masked individuals in hooded jackets, and the fact that the victims are of Senegalese origin have particularly instilled fear and raised fears of a racist crime, a theory that authorities have rejected for the time being.
“The investigators have not found any evidence indicating that the motive behind this crime is racism,” the police said in a statement.
The court must now rule whether the three teens are to be tried as minors or adults.
