Arrest made after deadly 2018 apartment fire in San Marcos
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN) — Several agencies plan to announce the arrest of a suspect almost five years after a deadly fire at a San Marcos apartment complex.
According to a news release from the City of San Marcos, someone is now in custody after the fire that killed five people at the Iconic Village apartments on July 20, 2018. City leaders are not yet sharing the suspect’s name or what led authorities to this person. However, they plan to put out more details at a news conference Thursday at 10 a.m.
KXAN will provide a live stream at that time in this story and on the station’s Facebook page.
The agencies that will take part in Thursday’s news conference include the San Marcos Fire Department, the San Marcos Police Department, the Hays County District Attorney’s Office, the Hays County Justice of the Peace, the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
In Nov. 2018, San Marcos firefighters and the ATF announced they would investigate the apartment fire as arson and ruled the deaths as homicides. The people who died are Dru Estes, 20, Belinda Moats, 21, Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, David Angel Ortiz, 21, and James Phillip Miranda, 23. At least seven others suffered injuries during the fire. The city put up an $110,000 reward in 2019 for information leading to an arrest.
The parents of three Texas State students who either died or got seriously hurt during the fire filed a lawsuit in 2020 regarding the roof of the apartment building. The families claimed the roofing company — hired by the apartment management company — failed to properly design and install the roofing, which contributed to the deadliness of the fire.
Source: KXAN.com
