A man from Texas faces murder charges after authorities allege he intentionally set his roommate on fire while the victim was still alive.

The investigation by the Amarillo Police Department commenced on October 27, following a blaze at a local trailer park. According to ABC affiliate KVII, emergency responders were dispatched to the scene at 4:53 a.m., where they discovered an RV trailer completely consumed by fire. After safely evacuating nearby residents and extinguishing the flames, firefighters made a grim discovery inside the charred remains of the trailer—a deceased individual.

KVII noted that witnesses reported seeing someone departing from the vicinity of the trailer just before the appearance of smoke.

Authorities later identified the deceased individual as 46-year-old James Sosa. A criminal complaint accessed by KVII indicated that an autopsy uncovered “soot deposits in his trachea and both airway paths to the lungs,” confirming that he was alive during the fire.

Later on October 27, police interviewed 46-year-old Luis Angel Rico, who had returned to the scene of the fire that had devastated the trailer he shared with Sosa. Rico informed officers that he last saw Sosa between 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m., watching TV on his phone inside the trailer. Rico also mentioned that Sosa had been burning a candle at the time.

According to the complaint, Rico said he saw smoke coming from the direction of the trailer while he was in another location nearby. He told police that he thought Sosa might still be inside the trailer. When he went back to the trailer and saw it on fire, he told police he went to call 911, but already heard the sirens of first responders.

Rico was questioned by police and denied any involvement in the fire. But when he was in the presence of police, they noted that he smelled like gasoline and had soot on his hands. Police arrested Rico after finding four fentanyl tablets in his pockets and charged him with drug possession.

Further investigation by the fire marshal’s office revealed “the presence of an accelerant on Rico’s right pants leg, right coat sleeve, and both shoes.” Rico was charged with murder, accused of setting Sosa on fire while he was still alive.

Rico was taken into custody and booked into the Potter County Jail, where he is being held without bond.