Man indicted for arson in fire that killed his disabled brother

TYLER — 32-year-old Robert Harrison Johnson IV has been indicted for arson for allegedly causing a fire that killed his half-brother last May. According to our news partner KETK, officials responded to a home on Smith County Road 1113 for a structure fire with a man trapped inside the residence. Jack McKenzie Ross, 35, who was both mentally and physically disabled, died after resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. At the time, the Smith County Fire Marshal’s Office reported that Ross’s brother was able to escape the fire before responders arrived.

After a lengthy investigation, the Fire Marshal’s Office now believes Johnson, who lived in the home with Ross, intentionally set the fire in a bedroom of the house and left the property while the fire consumed the home and resulted in the death of Ross, Smith County Fire Marshal Jay Brooks said. Johnson, of Tyler, was arrested in DeSoto in June and remains jailed on $1 million bond. His trial is set for November 14.