Man In Custody For Deadly Tulsa Meth Lab Fire

By Jennifer Loren, The News On 6

TULSA, OK -- Six months after a fire killed two people and critically injured a third at a Tulsa apartment complex, police arrested the man they say started the blaze.  Mark Roberts was booked in the Tulsa County Jail on Tuesday and faces several charges.  For family members of one of the victims, it was a long wait, but they hope justice is near.

On March 10^th, a fire exploded at the Royal Arms Apartments.  Two people were killed, including a 35- year-old factory worker and father, Armando Nunez.  His children are bearing the incredible weight of his senseless death.

05/15/2009 Related Story:  Tulsa Man Charged With Meth Lab Fire Deaths

"I want my kids to know that something like this, there's going to be something done instead of just nothing done at all," said Armando's wife, Sharon Nunez.

Nunez' wife, Sharon, wants the man who investigators say started the fire to be held accountable for murder.

Mark William Roberts was also burned in the fire which investigators say he started while making meth. 

Sharon Nunez says it was hard, knowing Roberts was in the hospital for almost two months with no criminal charges against him.

"When he was in the hospital there were so many times I thought about just going up there and, but I don't know what I would say," said Armando's wife, Sharon Nunez.

Roberts was released from the hospital before the district attorney charged him with two counts of murder, arson and manufacturing drugs.  Tulsa Police had been looking for him ever since.

"I don't think that it should have taken this long to have him behind bars and I just want them to see how much it's affect my nephew and my niece and my sister," said Sherry Brown.

But now that Roberts is behind bars, Armando Nunez's wife and children hope to see the wheels of justice begin to turn.

"My kids don't have a dad now. There's other kids that don't have a mother. The other family, Nikki Cain's family, even though she's still alive, she's not the same person.  It's just tragic. The whole thing's just tragic," said Armando's wife, Sharon Nunez.

Nunez says she plans to be in court with Roberts every step of the way.