A Suffolk native is charged with murder in Houston, Texas, after police and fire officials there say he threw gasoline on two men and lit the gas on fire.

Curtis Holliman, 32, is charged with murder in the 178th State District Court, according to a news release from Houston.

The news release states that the man who died, Dexter Taylor, 46, suffered burns to his body and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A second male victim remains hospitalized with burns not considered life-threatening, the release states.

The fire happened Jan. 18 at 10:59 a.m., the release stated. Both victims were conscious and alert when they were taken to the hospital after being found in the house and removed, the release states. The two-story house suffered heavy smoke, fire and water damage.

Houston news reports identify the other victim as Kirby Taylor, Dexter’s father and a longtime Houston attorney.

“According to court documents, the three men argued earlier in the morning, and the argument ended with Taylor and his son laughing, apparently further angering Holliman,” KPRC, NBC’s Houston affiliate, reported. “He allegedly told them, ‘You think that’s funny? I’ve got something for you’ and went upstairs to his room. He came back a few minutes later with a container of gasoline, doused them both and set them on fire.”

The station reported neighbors heard screams and found the elder Taylor in his front yard trying to retrieve a garden hose, wearing pants that had the legs burned off up to the knee.

Holliman’s sister, Doressa Warren, who still lives in Suffolk along with her mother and other family, said the description of the crime is uncharacteristic of her brother.

“Curtis has been nothing but an upstanding person,” Warren said. “He’s never done anything wrong. For this to happen, it was a total shock to us.”

Warren said her brother has been back and forth between Suffolk and Houston in the past six months or so and seemed to be in fear for his life and the lives of his family.

“He was in constant fear,” she said. “At one point, he sent the police over to my mother’s house to check on her. He would constantly call us and tell us to stay off the roads and say somebody’s trying to kill him.”

Warren said her brother is being evaluated for mental problems and that the family just wants him to have a fair trial. They haven’t been able to talk to him about what happened, she added.

“We’re asking for people to pray for him and pray for us,” she said.