SAN MARCOS, Texas — A suspect has been arrested in connection with the July 2018 Iconic Village Apartments fire in San Marcos that killed five people, authorities announced on Wednesday.
KVUE confirmed the suspect as 30-year-old Jacobe De Leon OShea Ferguson. Records show he lived at the Iconic Village Apartments from December of 2017 to at least June of 2018. Ferguson attended Texas State University and graduated in 2019 with a Bachelor's degree, according to the university.
He is charged with arson resulting in bodily injury or death, a first-degree felony.
The San Marcos Fire Department, the San Marcos Police Department, the Houston Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Hays County District Attorney’s Office, Hays County Justice of the Peace and the Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Ranger Division hosted a news conference Thursday morning to provide more details.
Watch the full conference below:
The fire on July 20, 2018, killed five people – Dru Estes, 20, of San Antonio; Belinda Moats, 21, of Big Wells; Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, of San Angelo; David Angel Ortiz, 21, of Pasadena; and James Phillip Miranda, 23, of Mount Pleasant.
Multiple other people were injured in the fire, including Zachary Sutterfield, who sustained third-degree burns to nearly 70% of his body and a brain injury. He shared his story with KVUE in 2019.
The fire near Texas State University began just before 4:30 a.m. while most residents were asleep. When the fire broke out, there was no sprinkler system. The apartment complex wasn't required to put one in because doing so wasn't required when it was built 50 years ago.
On Nov. 30, 2018, the San Marcos Fire Department and the ATF announced the fire was started intentionally and the deaths had been ruled homicides. In 2021, investigators determined that an accelerant was allegedly used to ignite the fire.
In October 2022, an investigative team was formed that was dedicated to solving the open investigation because, as Fire Marshal Jonathan Henderson said Thursday, "it became clear that we needed a new perspective and a fresh set of eyes."
Henderson said the task force met for the first time in October 2022 and met almost weekly, often communicating on a daily basis. Henderson said that "this influx of fresh enthusiasm, mixed with previous case knowledge, ended up being the needed catalyst" that led to Ferguson's arrest.
Henderson said the task force worked on the foundations laid by the previous investigative teams, reading through hundreds of ROIs (Release of Information forms), watching hours of body camera footage and reexamining all the data related to this case. Henderson said multiple witnesses were re-interviewed, which yielded "valuable information."
"These new interviews are what led to the task force obtaining an arrest warrant for Jacobe Ferguson for arson causing serious bodily injury or death, a felony of the first degree. This arrest warrant was served by the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force yesterday morning [July 5] at approximately 6:45 a.m., in the 700 block of East Slaughter Lane, Austin, Texas," Henderson said. "Jacobe Ferguson was placed under arrest without incident and was booked at the Hays County Jail. No other arrests are anticipated to be made for this case."
Henderson said that there was no specific tip that led to Ferguson's arrest, only that information gleaned from the fresh interviews pointed investigators in his direction. Henderson also noted that Ferguson was interviewed during the initial stages of the investigation and stated that while he did live at the Iconic Village Apartments, he did not live in Building 500, where the fire was started.
Henderson said the investigation remains open as the task force continues its work with the Hays County District Attorney's Office, including whether additional charges will be filed against Ferguson.