[ad_1]
A 15-year-old will serve seven years in Colorado’s Division of Youth Services after pleading guilty to setting a Lakewood apartment complex on fire, killing Kathleen Payton and her 10-year-old daughter, Jazmine Payton-Aguayo.
The teen and an accomplice, who were 12 and 14 at the time, started the fire in the early hours of Oct. 31, 2022, after they were asked to leave a friend’s apartment at the Tiffany Square Apartments complex, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Flames spread rapidly from bushes outside the complex at 935 Sheridan Blvd. to the wooden walkway above. Payton, 31, and Jazmine were trapped inside their apartment and died from carbon monoxide poisoning and smoke inhalation, the DA’s office said.
Ten people were also injured in the fire, and everyone who lived at the 32-unit complex was displaced.
Both teens, whose names were not made public under Colorado law, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder and arson, all felonies. The first teen was sentenced to seven years in the Division of Youth Services after pleading guilty in October 2023.
During the second teen’s sentencing hearing on Thursday, court officials noted that Payton died trying to protect her daughter during the fire.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Payton’s family, she followed instructions from an emergency dispatcher and sheltered in the bathroom, covered her daughter with wet towels and held wet towels under the bathroom door to prevent smoke from getting inside.
That lawsuit was dismissed in May at the family’s request, court records show.
“Today’s sentence brings a measure of justice for the many members of our community impacted by this senseless fire,” Deputy District Attorney Riley Gonya said in a statement. “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.”
Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day.
[ad_2]