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DENVER (KDVR) — Three teens are behind bars, accused of setting a Green Valley Ranch home on fire and killing five Senegalese immigrants in August 2020. As of Thursday, the teens (two 16-year-olds and a 15-year-old) had not been formally charged.

Colorado law lays out what Denver District Attorney Beth McCann can and cannot do when charging the case. Those who love the victims told FOX31 they want the teens charged as adults.

“How on earth could somebody commit this crime?” said family friend Amadou Dieng.

Dieng, a fellow Senegalese immigrant, said he and members of the tight-knit community kept hope alive over nearly six months as investigators searched for suspects.

“We were kept on edge in this case, so we did not know a lot,” Dieng said.

While authorities won’t confirm the names and birthdates of the juvenile suspects, Dieng said he has intelligence that shows the two 16-years-olds were 16 at the time of the arson. The 15-year-old, he said, was 14 at the time.

Criminal defense lawyer Chris Decker said age matters under the law. The DA has a lot of leeway when it comes to the 16-year-old defendants if she decides to charge them as adults.

“Direct filing [is allowed] into district court against any juvenile who has achieved the age of 16 at the time of the act,” Decker said.

Decker also said minors under 16 and older than 12 can be subject to a transfer to adult court from juvenile court if the DA petitions the juvenile court to do so— and a judge approves the request.

There’s also a third option, Decker said. McCann could avoid adult court altogether and keep all three defendants in the juvenile system.

“If somebody is able to commit such a crime, then I think they are criminal no matter what the age is,” Dieng said.

From the time a person is arrested, it typically takes three business days before the case is forwarded from police to the Denver District Attorney’s Office, according to a DA spokeswoman.

Denver Police Department Chief Paul Pazen said Thursday that he does not believe the suspected arson was bias-motivated.

“I’m very confident in the cases, in the facts that are known that this is not a bias-motivated crime. If it were a bias motivated crime and the facts supported that, we would’ve charged it. If the facts change in the future, we will make the change as well,” Pazen said.