Iconic Village arson arrest

San Marcos Fire Department officials charge 30-year-old Austin resident with felony

A 30-year-old man was arrested early Wednesday in connection to the Iconic Village apartment fire in July 2018 that killed five and injured many others, including one critically.

San Marcos Fire Marshal Jonathan Henderson said Jacobe De Leon O’Shea Ferguson was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshal's Lone Star Fugitive Task Force at 6:45 a.m. on the 700 block of East Slaughter Lane in Austin, and appeared 'startled,' when confronted by the marshals. Henderson said Ferguson, who is alleged to have intentionally started the fire, has no previous record of arrest.

He was formally charged early Thursday in San Marcos with arson causing bodily injury or death, a first degree felony, which carries a potential sentence of life in prison, according to information presented in a press conference held Thursday with key members of the various teams who brought the fire investigation to an arrest moment. A cash/surety bond was set at $250,000 for Ferguson and at time of press, Ferguson remained in custody at the Hays County Jail.

San Marcos Fire Department Chief Les Stephens said that the tragedy required a stringent investigation.

“If this had just been a structure fire with only property damage, we might not have gone to the extent that we had, but this fire has impacted and forever changed the course of many lives,” Stephens said.

Henderson said that the arrest was made due to a collaborative effort between multiple departments, local and federal.

The members of the task force involved in the investigation were Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Ranger Keith Pauska, San Marcos Police Assistant Kelly Minor, San Marcos Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Dallimore, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Senior Special Agent Rey Alatorre and Henderson.

“The on-scene fire investigation work, combined with the work of the Fire Resource Laboratory determined that the fire was incendiary. This information is contained in the ATF Certified Fire Investigator Origin and Cause Determination Report that was finalized in December of 2018. The deaths of the five victims were subsequently ruled as homicides as a result of arson,” Henderson said.

Ferguson, a former Texas State student at the time of the fire, who later graduated in 2019 with a bachelor of science degree in anthropology, was living in one of the apartment facility’s buildings at the time of the fire, though not Building 500 that was destroyed in the blaze.

Killed in the fire were Dru Estes, 20; Belinda Moats, 21; Haley Michele Frizzell, 19, David Angel Ortiz, 21 and James Phillip Miranda, 23. Also injured was Zachary Sutterfield, who sustained third-degree burns to nearly 70 percent of his body and a brain injury.

Officials said Ferguson’s arrest occurred on what would have been Estes’ 25th birthday.

Brian Frizzell, who lost his daughter Haley in the fire, spoke about his family's experience and gave his gratitude to the investigative team. He said that his son called him early in the morning to tell him that his apartment complex was on fire.

“Five a.m. phone calls are terrible. No parent ever wants to receive one,” Frizzell said. “The next couple of hours traveling from San Angelo, Texas to San Marcos, was absolute hell for my wife and I. It was a terrible experience for five other families and countless others whose children were injured. Driving around Hays County, Travis County, Comal County going to every emergency room, going to every hospital begging that every Jane Doe would be your daughter is an absolutely horrendous experience.”

Will Wells, a friend of David Ortiz, who died in the fire, said he is relieved that an arrest has been made.

“He was in Europe for a month and came back the night before the fire, so I was going to go hang out with him. I called the next day, and his roommate said he died. It was pretty crazy to hear that,” Wells said. “Well there was a lot of rumors going around. Our friend group, particularly, they were always talking about … someone was upset with their partner and wanted to scare them, and it got out of hand.”

Wells added that the fact that Iconic Village Apartments didn’t have sprinklers and fire alarms is alarming, and efforts should be made to check that other apartments in town are up to code.

Stephens said those working on the investigation have gotten to know the families of the victims very well.

“In the days immediately following the fire, we attended visitations and memorial services for most of the victims. We have cried with them many times. We have also had the amazing opportunity to get to know Zach, and his parents Karl and DJ and follow his miraculous recovery. We were there at the Fisher House for Zach’s 21st birthday, while he was still receiving treatment at the Brooke Army Medical Center, and we were there at Angelo State last fall when he graduated with his bachelor’s degree,” Stephens said.

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Topper had a message for the families of the victims.

“We have been working diligently to bring this investigation to a close and to hold the responsible party accountable. Thank you for your trust and thank you for your patience. As we approach the fifth anniversary of the fire. I hope that yesterday's arrest provides some comfort,” Topper said.

A task force organized in San Marcos in 2022 looked at the reports and investigation with a “new set of eyes,” and conducted a second spate of interviews with witnesses. In 2018, Ferguson was one of the individuals interviewed shortly after the fire, but Henderson said that investigators ruled him out at the time. Additional information generated by this reinvigorated investigation generated by the task force led to the arrest of Ferguson.

“This influx of fresh enthusiasm, mixed with previous case knowledge, ended up being the needed catalyst. Working on investigations made by previous investigative teams the task force read through hundreds of ROIs, watched hours of body cam footage and reexamined all of the data available for this case,” Henderson said.

Henderson said the almost five year investigation could be frustrating for the families of the victims, but assured the public the task force worked tirelessly to solve the case.

“If I was a loved one or a close friend of one of the victims that were killed or injured, I would wonder what took so long. Please know that the investigators have felt this way as well. I don’t know how long investigations are supposed to take, but I know more often than not–it’s longer than we want. There is no easy button for investigations - only hard work, time and good old fashioned police work,” Henderson said.

Henderson said the investigation is ongoing. Additional charges may be pending, but that decision is in the hands of Hays County District Attorney Kelly Higgins and Hays County Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox.

“This arrest is one step among many to follow towards the application of justice for the victims of the iconic village fire,” Henderson said.

During the question and answer portion of the press conference, Henderson said that they could not relay the accelerant used, the point of ignition or the motive.

“The importance of the origin cause and determination report cannot be overstated as far as how that helped us solve this case, so we’re going to hold that pretty close to the vest right now,” Henderson said.

Attending the press conference were Henderson, San Marcos Director of Communications Lauren Surley, Stephens, Topper, Frizzell, San Marcos Police Chief Stan Standridge, Minor, San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes, Former San Marcos Fire Marshal Kelly Kistner, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent Greg Carlton, Pauska, Coxx, Higgins, Hays County Justice of the Peace Maggie Moreno, Dallimore and Alatorre.