PHILLIPS Police have arrested three Cowpens residents in connection with a fatal fire Aug. 30.

Detective Tracy Fowler of the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office has charged Jesse Curtis Willis, 21, and Nakia Moss Gossett, 28, both of 106 Oakstone Road, and Jeremy Richard Phillips, 28, of 128 Oakstone Road, with strongarm robbery.

Additional charges of murder and firstdegree arson will be brought against the trio today, authorities said.

They each remain in the Cherokee County Detention Center awaiting bond hearings.

The body of Juan Roman of 127 Oak Stone Road, Cowpens, was found in the living room of the mobile home he rented. The structure was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at 11:30 p.m. The Cherokee County Coroner's Office used dental records to identify Roman because his body was burned beyond visual recognition.

Deputy Coroner Glenn Fuller said an autopsy performed in Newberry showed that soot was found in the victim's airways, indicating the person died as a result of the fire.

Phillips, Willis and Gossett are accused of beating Roman, robbing him and setting his mobile home on fire to cover up the crime, according to a press release from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department.

WILLIS Detectives with the sheriff's office and agents with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division have been investigating the fatal fire.

Police returned to the mobile home Thursday to gather more evidence.

The mobile home was owned by Charles Scruggs.

GOSSETT