The sister of a man allegedly killed by his stepson last year is now breaking her family’s silence in an exclusive interview.

“I want people to know Tony had the biggest heart,” says Christine Roberts. “He never met a stranger.”

Anthony Roberts was killed inside his Lake Katrine home May 4, 2023. His sister says the 57-year-old was bludgeoned and set on fire by Brian Roberts, 26, who she says her brother raised as his own.

Christine Roberts says her step-nephew was struggling with mental illness prior to the murder and that her family is grieving her brother’s loss.

“My last conversation with my brother was about three days before he passed. He was telling me that [Brian] was getting out of control, violent, tearing up the house again,” says Christine Roberts. “I said, ‘Tony you need to get him out. I don’t want to end up hearing this on the news.’ He said to me, ‘Chrissy, he he’s my son and I love him. I know he loves me, and he would never do anything to hurt me.’”

Brian Roberts was indicted on a murder charge shortly after the killing. The victim's family says he was remanded in April to Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center.

The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office has not responded to News 12’s requests for an update on the case but previously described it as an example of a "broken mental health system" that offers help too late.