DENVER — A $14,000 reward is being offered in the killing of five people in a house fire in Denver's Green Valley Ranch neighborhood this week, a fire authorities believe was set intentionally, officials said Friday.
Djibril and Adja Diol and their three-year-old daughter, Khadija, died in the fire. Hassan Diol and her infant daughter, Hawa Baye, also died. All five family members were originally from the country of Senegal.
The fire happened about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 5300 block of North Truckee Street and the deaths are being investigated as homicides, officials said.
Investigators determined the fire was set intentionally, police said. The federal Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agency is also helping Denver police investigate the case.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-STOP (7867).
Denver police issuing a crime alert to help solve fatal fire case in Green Valley Ranch. pic.twitter.com/hIjn6ea4o9
— Lance Hernandez (@lancehernandez7) August 7, 2020
Mousa Diol, brother of Djibril Diol was among those at a Friday news conference who pleaded for someone to come forward with information about the fire.
"That was my family, my everything," Mousa Diol said. "It hurts a lot just to wake up and lose your family like that. Nobody deserves this ... I'm going to miss them a lot."
Police Division Chief Joe Montoya said authorities do not know a motive for the fire and few details were released Friday. There were several cameras in the area of the fire and Montoya said investigators are still examining evidence.
"I want them to see a picture of this family and understand they were a family that was thriving, heading in the right direction," Montoya said, pleading for information about the case. "And that was all cut short that day. Look into your heart and do the right thing. We have to find this individual and hold them accountable for what happened that day."
The president of Senegal offered his condolences Thursday to the family of the five victims.
Macky Sall, the president of the Republic of Senegal, said in a tweet that he wished to “extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”
Papa Dia, president of the African Leadership Group, pleaded on Friday for information about the fire.
We are not used to seeing something like this take place. We consider ourselves part of this society, part of this great nation we call home. And this is a time where we don’t want to feel alone," Dia said. "We are asking every resident of Denver, every resident of the state of Colorado to help us solve this crime. Any info you have, even if you think it’s not valuable, we’d like you to come forward and share with us."