On Wednesday, October 15th, 2025, suspect Aaron Marshall Keel, age 60, of Severna Park, entered a guilty plea to first-degree arson for setting fire to an unoccupied home belonging to a neighbor on Belhaven Court in Severna Park on April 13, 2025.
Keel received 18 months of active incarceration in the Anne Arundel County Detention Center. The defendant waived credit for 169 days of time already served. Following his release from jail, he must serve five years of supervised probation, pay $1,000 in restitution to cover the victims’ homeowner’s insurance deductible, participate in mental health and anger management treatment, and avoid contact with the victims. Additionally, as part of the plea agreement, the court placed harassment charges stemming from incidents prior to the arson on the stet (inactive) docket. The Judge emphasized that the defendant will face significant backup time in jail if he violates the terms of his probation after release.
In the early morning hours of April 13, 2025, the Anne Arundel County Fire Department received a call for a residential structure fire at a home on Belhaven Court in Severna Park. Anne Arundel County Fire Arson/Explosives Investigators determined that several fires had been intentionally set using an external ignition source. The home was unoccupied at the time of the fire.
During the course of the investigation, the defendant Aaron Keel was identified as a suspect. Through surveillance camera footage, Anne Arundel County Fire Investigators established the defendant’s movements before and after the fire was set, including video showing the defendant entering the home through a wooded area behind the house and discarding items in a dumpster outside Oak Hill Elementary School. Fire Investigators obtained retail and surveillance footage from April 12, 2025, showing the defendant shopping at four home improvement stores in the Glen Burnie and Bowie areas, purchasing a single red gas can and a pump sprayer. AACoFD Fire Investigators believe that Keel’s motive for the crime was the result of his disagreements about homeowners’ association matters, of which a victim was a board member.