NEED TO KNOW
- Two teens involved in a fatal 2022 fire have now been sentenced for their involvement in the crime
- Due to their status as minors, their identities were not made public, but they were 14 and 12 at the time
- The pair set fire to a bush at an apartment complex after they were kicked out by a friend
Last week, a second teen pleaded guilty to a deadly fire at a Colorado apartment complex that claimed the lives of a mother and her daughter, and left a trail of destruction.
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, Colorado’s First Judicial District Attorney’s Office shared a press release stating that the two teens involved in the 2022 incident had received the maximum sentence of seven years in the Colorado Department of Human Services Division of Youth Services (DYS).
Due to their status as minors, their names and genders were not disclosed, but authorities said they were 14 and 12 at the time.
In the hours before the Oct. 31 blaze, the teens were asked to leave a friend’s place at the Tiffany Square Apartments complex.
Just before 4 a.m., the pair came back and started a fire by igniting bushes outside the apartment. Surveillance footage obtained during an investigation by Lakewood Police captured the two running away to a nearby building as the flames grew, then ultimately using public transportation to leave the premises.
Kathleen Payton, 31, and her 10-year-old daughter, Jazmine Payton-Aguayo, were trapped inside their apartment and died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation.
Ten others were injured, and every surviving resident in the 32-unit complex was displaced.
“Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice for the many members of our community impacted by this senseless fire. While nothing can restore the lives lost, the homes destroyed, or the sense of safety that was shattered, we hope this outcome provides a sense of closure and allows everyone involved to finally begin the long process of healing,” Deputy District Attorney Riley Gonya said.
Relatives of Payton and Jazmine were present at the sentencing and said in a statement, “We will never stop grieving the loss of our beloved girls, Katie and Jazzy.”
The first teen involved in the fatal fire was sentenced in October 2023.
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Both remained in custody since the Oct. 31, 2022 fire, and each faced the same charges, including two counts of murder in the first degree, two counts of aggravated juvenile offender, and first degree arson, among other offenses.
“Katie was always helping her neighbor, giving her diapers when she needed them,” Rochelle Vigil Valdez, Payton’s aunt and Jazmine’s great aunt, told The Denver Gazette in 2022. “Jazmine had just started 5th grade. She [was] just the sweetest little girl. She was into unicorns. She had so many toys it was ridiculous.”
In addition to their seven year sentences in DYS, the teens each have 113 days of pre-sentence confinement credit.
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