DENVER (KDVR) — Texts between a sister and brother facing decades in prison may hint at a deadly arson that killed five people in August 2020.
The victims were all members of a Senegalese family: 29-year-old Djibril Diol and 23-year-old Adja Diol, along with their 2-year-old daughter, Khadija; and 25-year-old Hassan Diol and her 6-month-old daughter, Hawa Baye.
The Problem Solvers obtained the texts from court documents filed against Tanya Bui, who faces drug and gun charges.
Kevin Bui and Gavin Seymour, both 16 at the time of the crime, face more than 60 counts, including murder. They’ve been charged as adults. A 15-year old accomplice is being charged as a minor.
Investigators initially released a photo of three suspects wearing masks and a photo of a dark-colored sedan.
A few weeks later, police pulled over Kevin Bui in his car, but once the officer got out of his car, Kevin sped off.
Texts between siblings: ‘you just made your car even hotter’
Sources tell FOX31 that prosecutors believe the teens targeted the wrong home while retaliating to a drug deal gone bad. New text messages obtained by FOX31 show the extent of that alleged drug-dealing operation.
Those text messages reveal the siblings spoke almost daily, with Tanya often instructing Kevin to carry out drug deals on her behalf throughout the metro Denver area.
“You wanna go serve some people for me,” Tanya asks two days before the fire. “I’ll pay for your tank if you want to go,” she adds.
Texts obtained by investigators don’t specifically mention the arson, but they do show Tanya Bui texted her brother after he fled police.
“You had no reason to do that so now anytime they see your car and your plates they’re going to pull you over … now you just made your car even hotter,” she wrote.
“I just like what did I possibly get pulled over for besides them recognizing my car,” Kevin Bui responded.
Tanya would later text him, “Don’t say anything to Dad” about Kevin fleeing from the traffic stop.
It would be another six months before the two siblings would be arrested and charged. Investigators found widespread proof of drug dealing inside the Bui family home on the day the siblings were arrested, according to court documents.
Both Kevin Bui and Seymour are expected to appear in a Denver District courtroom Friday for their preliminary hearing. That’s when prosecutors are expected to reveal what their strongest evidence is against the boys, both now 17, in the deadly fire.
View the court document cataloging the text messages here.