At least two people died in a fire at a Texas rental home that had been previously targeted with racist graffiti, according to a report.
Neighbors reported Mario Roberson's rental property in Huntsville was burning Saturday around 2:30 a.m., and a witness told KTRK-TV that he saw a man fully engulfed in flames running out of the house before stripping down and driving away.
"Racism, power, hungriness, money has gotten us to this place," Roberson said, according to the TV station.
Roberson owns two short-term rental properties in the Waterwood neighborhood, and he said the homeowners association met May 6 to debate the elimination of those rental properties -- and he said the discussion became heated.
"As I was talking, I was getting interrupted," Roberson said last month. "The board and their attorneys allowed the interruption. This guy was getting violent. He made a threat towards me."
He left for Houston after the meeting but returned two days later to find a racist message spray painted on the back door of one home.
"We don't like your kind n---er," the message read.
Roberson also said he was inside his home May 26 when someone fired a gunshot into a window at the two-story rental property.
"You fear for your life when things like this happen," he said.
State fire marshals are investigating the blaze but have not released any information about their findings or the identities of the two people killed.
"Mario's just the type of person that he'll give you the shirt off his back," said neighbor James Schwebach. "If someone's burning his house down, it's because of hate -- pure evil hate."
An attorney for the Waterwood Homeowners Association said the organization had no comment until the investigation was complete but disavowed the racist graffiti.
"In no circumstance whatsoever is the use of threats, racial slurs, or personal attacks on anyone supported by the Board of Directors of the Waterwood Improvement Association Inc.," said attorney Mitchell Katine.
