 We'll get started. Oh, move that back a little bit. Yeah, that is good. Thank you. First of all I want to thank you for joining us today. We want to share some very important information regarding a case that is very near and dear to this department, to this city, and to the community of Denver. I also want to acknowledge many of the agencies and individuals that have helped us along the way with bringing some small sense of closure to the Joll family. You'll hear from the mayor, you'll hear from Papadia, but I also want to thank the Denver District Attorney's Office. I want to thank the ATF, the U.S. Secret Service. I want to thank the Denver Fire Department, our partners at Crime Stoppers, and the Executive Director for Public Safety who helped us ensure we had enough resources to bring some closure to this case. Let me start by acknowledging that why we're here, what brought us here. On August 5th of 2020, Gibi Ajaya, their two-year-old daughter, Khadija Hassan, her daughter, Hawaii Bay, were killed in an intentional fire in the 5300 block of Truckee Street. Today we announce that we have arrested three juveniles for this crime. These suspects, two of which are 16, one is 15, were arrested this morning in Jefferson County. They are currently being held for investigation of five counts of first-degree murder, five counts of murder in the first degree with extreme indifference, three counts of criminal attempt murder in the first degree with extreme indifference, two counts of first-degree assault with extreme indifference, one count of first-degree burglary, one count of second-degree burglary, three counts of first-degree arson, and eight counts of fourth-degree arson. Now, due to the ages of our suspects, there is limited information that we can share at this time. But what I can say is that the evidence that we have uncovered, the circumstances and the facts that we have found to this point, do not, let me repeat, do not indicate that this is a bias motivated crime. Arresting those who committed this crime was one of the top priorities for the entire safety department. And we worked closely with our partners in order to accomplish this goal. I want to thank our homicide team for their tireless effort on this case. They spent a significant amount of time working to help us bring closure to the JAL family. None of this would be possible without homicide, major crimes, and the partners that I have listed. Today marks a significant day in providing a small sense of relief to the JAL family. Well, we are saddened. We are also thankful that those who allegedly committed this crime were brought to justice and placed in custody. With that said, I'd like to introduce the Mayor, Mayor Michael B. Hancock. Thank you, Chief. As far as I can remember in the 10 years as Mayor of the City, this is the first time I've showed up at a DPD press conference following the arrest of suspects in a crime. But this was one of the most heinous crimes I've ever seen or witnessed in our city, as Mayor otherwise. And it was also very hit me to the core. And I was struck by the sense of diligence and commitment and dedication of the men and women of this department, of the ATF, of the Secret Service, of the Arson Division, of our fire department, and many other law enforcement agencies when this happened that we would do everything we could, turn over every rock, make sure we looked at every nook and cranny to make sure that this crime was solved. And so, Chief, I'm honored to stand with you today to thank the men and women of this department, in particular, as you mentioned, the homicide division and the major crimes division for the tremendous work that they put in the many, many hours again, turn over every rock to make sure that we saw this crime. I want to once again to extend to the JAL family. On behalf of this city, our deepest condolences, not only to the JAL family, but to the Senegalese community, the entire Denver community, for this tragedy that occurred in the life of our community just a little less than six months ago. Today marks the first step to making sure we hold those responsible for this crime. Many of us, if not all of us, have wondered to ourselves and out loud who could commit such a crime to such a beautiful family. I want to share with you that I spoke just about an hour ago to the Consulate General who flew out to Denver following this crime. Consulate General, the Honorable El-Haji, and I share with him, of course, that there was a break in the crime that arrests have been made. He wanted to express on behalf of the entire Senegalese community his tremendous confidence and gratitude to the Denver Police Department and all the law enforcement agencies that were involved in helping to solve this crime. And we committed to continue to work together to stand with the African community and to make sure that they know that their city will always and will continue to stand with them going forward. And so with that, I want to reiterate what Chief Payson has shared. If anyone has any additional information regarding this crime, we ask you to come forward and to crime stoppers, thank you again for once again perennially being that partner in our city helping us to solve these crimes. It's not over until they are sentenced for their crime in this heinous crime in our city. But to the Denver Police Department and all the agencies involved, thank you. The city, the Senegalese community, the jaw family can breathe a little better, a little easier tonight because you helped us to solve this heinous crime. Thank you, Chief. Now I'll bring up Papadilla, the African, the great leader in the African community who has stood and counseled the community and the family during this entire time. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, everybody that show up to this press conference. On behalf of the jaw family and the entire community, today is a great day. And we want to start by expressing our gratitude, our appreciation to the entire Denver Police, to Detective Baker, Detective Salas, the mayoral office, the governor. And as you know, we are immigrants that came all the way from Africa to seek opportunity in this great nation. It's so sad that part of our community remember in that process of seeking opportunities that life was tragically taken. But to say, nevertheless, in this horrific time, the entire Colorado community embraced us around their arm. Show us love, show us support, the day of the crime, the neighbors upon their door, the mayor show up, the governor was there. We felt the love and the appreciation from the entire community that tell us this crime happened in isolation and this does not define the great state of Colorado. So just wanted to make sure that's how we feel. We are very appreciative for everybody that supported for the GoFundMe. As you know, when you have an entire family taken away, the process can be difficult. But it was possible largely because of the great citizen of the state of Colorado. As you know, this is a case that the Senegalese government is following closely. The president was involved. As the mayor said, the council general flew in and we were on the phone. He also expressed his gratitude and appreciation. I was on the phone with Jibril Dad and I'm here also by with Jibril Brother Musa and Abdul and Jibril best friend Usman. And they had a lot of young friends and young people also that were involved in helping. We want to express our gratitude. To the media, you have done an amazing job covering this case because it's been six months. At some point, we lost hope. We were afraid that this could become a cold case. But the media stayed on top of it, making sure they bring it up and people knew about it. Just know on behalf of the Joel family, the Senegalese community, and the entire African immigrant community. This been a rough year, not just for us, but for all of us because of the pandemic. But on top of that, having to deal with a loss of beautiful people like this. We are grateful, but we're still in pain. Our race has been made, but we know it's not going to bring these beautiful people back. So our message is, let's embrace one another. Let's love each other. Let's not let horrific crime like this define who we are as a nation and who we could be as a state. Thank you for having us. Thank you. I mentioned earlier that we have three juvenile suspects, so we are going to be limited in what we can share. But at this time, we will open up for questions. Deborah. So again, without jeopardizing the integrity of the investigation and the case, and as has been mentioned previously, that now we move to successful prosecution. We're confident in the Denver District Attorney's Office, but we can't share information other than to indicate that there are no facts that we are aware of at this time that would indicate this is a bias-motivated case. If something changes, then obviously we can make changes to those types of charges, but we are very confident in the investigators' work, the work with our federal partners on this, that we have a good understanding of the hows and the whys on this. We just cannot share at this time, because now we move to successful prosecution. Rick. Have you found any involvement of an adult? These are the three individuals that we believe are responsible for this horrific crime, a crime that has impacted our entire city, our community. This is a beautiful family that is no longer with us, and the juveniles that we have, we believe, are the ones responsible. Other parts of the case are ongoing, and there'll be additional information as it becomes available. As I read off the 22 or 23 charges that I've indicated, the focus right now is on the three individuals that are in custody for the horrific killing of the Shaw family. She says, and this is Katie Easton over the phone with nine news. I wanted to ask, if there's any indication that the DA plans to charge these individuals as adults, and if those three individuals, if you believe these three individuals were the three maps? Katie, nice to hear your voice. Again, we wouldn't comment on the district attorney's case now. We will work closely with them moving forward. As far as getting into specifics, I'm going to repeat what I stated earlier. We believe that we have the three individuals that were responsible for this tragic killing of the Shaw family. Hi, this is Sterling and I'm just over at Denver Rite. This question is for Papa. Can you talk a little bit about what this means for the community? People can sort of breathe a little bit easier. I know there was a lot of concerns about people being targeted. Can you provide a little bit more of a reaction about how this helps the community? Yes, thanks for your question. Yes, it is a relief. However, there's still some concern about the crime, and especially not knowing the why, and we need to still protect the investigation. There's still some concern, but I'm going to be working with the detective to continue our great collaboration with the community to put them at ease. But yes, there have been some concerns, but hopefully this arrest brings a little bit of relief and the continuous effort of collaboration will put them more at ease. Thank you. No. Everybody heard that? This was not related to the 6th and Pearl arrest. Two separate incidences. Deborah, you had another one? I am confident in the work of our investigators and federal partners on this again without giving away too many of the details. We believe we have the folks that are responsible, and if that expands, we certainly will share that information as it becomes available and as it protects the integrity of the ongoing prosecution of the case. I have a question. Karen, hold off one second. We've got a question here, and then I'll go to you, Karen. Okay? Jackie. Amazing work by our investigators and our federal partners. They have done an unbelievable job on this. There was very limited information that we had on this, and this was as complex of an investigation as I'm aware of in my entire career, and they did an amazing job. So I can't give away the details. This is very sensitive information because successful prosecution is critical in this case. Jackie. Karen, can we go to you on the phone? Yes, Karen, and I hope it doesn't sound like I'm talking in circles here. I have to point out the fact that successful prosecution protecting the integrity of the case is paramount as we move into this next phase. But I can tell you that, again, due to the extensive work by our investigators, our federal partners, the evidence that they have uncovered that we are very confident today to say that we do not believe that this is a bias-motivated crime. And then I add that caveat that if facts change as this investigation and prosecution continues, then we certainly can add that. But based on this very extensive investigation, I am confident in saying that this does not appear to be a bias-motivated crime. But can you elaborate on it? Karen, I can't. Go ahead. Go ahead, Karen. Not without unnecessarily potentially jeopardizing the case. Too many details there, Connor. Again, we're not going to get into specifics because of the integrity of the case. And as information, as this progresses, there may be opportunities in the future. Good. Looks like Rick here has a question. Distributed three people and hoodies and masks not too long after this incident took place. Do you believe the three juveniles in custody of the three who were in that picture? Uh, we believe that the three individuals that we have in custody are responsible for this horrific crime. And getting into specific details is just something that I'm not comfortable doing at this moment. Chief, uh, Jeremy Hohola here with 90 News. We're seeing some may have been an adult arrested in this case. Uh, any, any comment on that? So Jeremy, good hearing your voice. I want to focus on the three individuals that we have in custody that we believe are responsible for this horrific crime taken the Joll family away from us and our community. Uh, you know, as additional information becomes available, we will share that. Katie, I think you were up next. Yes, um, let me, uh, kind of wrap it up here. Uh, as Papadia indicated, we are thankful that you all, the media helped keep the community focused on this, uh, the, uh, crime stoppers and the significant amount of money they raised for this showed, uh, how much this impacted our community, our Denver family. And, uh, we really appreciate your help. I would ask that, uh, you also recognize how important it is to protect the integrity of the case by no means are we trying to, uh, dodge questions. But, uh, as we move into this next phase, it is critical that we have successful prosecution and, uh, sharing details as small as they may be. Uh, we have to be cognizant of that fact because, uh, that's, uh, the next important date is, uh, trials and, uh, convictions. Uh, uh, and maybe Mike Mills was going to ask the same question here in the room. Lance, uh, our partnership with crime stoppers is invaluable. Uh, you know, uh, the fact that Papadia, the Senegalese, uh, community, uh, the work of having rallies at the state capital, keeping this horrific crime, keeping the Joll family, uh, at the forefront of our, our consciousness was critical, uh, to, to help us, uh, come to some, you know, small sense of closure for, uh, the family. So, uh, all of it, uh, plays a big part in, in raising awareness and, uh, addressing, uh, this, uh, you know, senseless, horrific crime, uh, that, that, uh, we now can say we, we believe we have closure on. Uh, and then, uh, we're gonna switch to Lance, or I'm sorry, uh, Lance, we just talked to you. Mike? Oh, I'm just wondering, do you still like crime stoppers to offer the reward for the business in this case? Uh, Mike, thank you. Uh, and, and, uh, I don't know if you heard this on the phone, but media partners, uh, we want to make sure that we have successful prosecution. So, if there's anybody in our community that has additional information that can help us on this case, we ask that they come forward. Uh, we ask that they continue to utilize, uh, crime stoppers in helping us, uh, to further this case, as well as to help us, uh, address cases that we see throughout the Denver metro area. Would the reward pay a flat back to the users of that? Uh, uh, Rick, uh, not getting into any of the details. I want to, uh, you know, one focus on, this was an incredibly complex case. Uh, our investigators, our federal partners, deserve, uh, a ton of, uh, a ton of kudos for, uh, the work that they did in this particular incident. Uh, this is, uh, at, at a level that I have not seen in two decades. All right. Um, this is, uh, uh, three males, uh, Esteban, and we're gonna wrap it up. Thank you all. We appreciate your, your help on this.