Annapolis, MD – On Wednesday, October 15th 2025 in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Aaron Marshall Keel, age 60, of Severna Park entered a guilty plea to first-degree arson for setting fire to an unoccupied home on Belhaven Court in Severna Park on April 13, 2025. The Honorable Judge Richard Trunnell sentenced Keel to twenty years suspending all but 18 months 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. Judge Trunnell emphasized that the defendant faces significant backup time if he violates the terms of his probation after release.
Following the sentencing, State’s Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said, “The defendant’s actions have wrecked the lives of these victims. The emotional and financial cost, along with a lost sense of security at home and in their neighborhood has taken a huge toll on this family. I hope that the sentence provides some peace for this family that has suffered terribly as the result of this defendant’s cruel and malicious actions.”
In the early morning hours of April 13, 2025 Anne Arundel County Fire Department received a call for a residential structure fire at a home on Belhaven Court in Severna Park. Investigators determined that several fires had been set intentionally using an external ignition source, with the most severe damage to the attic area. The home was unoccupied at the time of the fire. The homeowners had been conducting renovations and planned to have family move into the house. During the course of the investigation, the defendant Aaron Keel was identified as a suspect. Through neighborhood surveillance camera evidence, the investigators established the defendant’s movements before and after the fire was set, including video indicating the defendant entered the home through a wooded area behind the house and of the defendant discarding items in a dumpster outside Oak Hill Elementary School. Investigators obtained retail and surveillance footage from April 12, 2025 which showed the defendant shopping at four home improvement stores in the Glen Burnie and Bowie area. The defendant’s only purchases were a single red gas can and a pump sprayer. Keel and the victims were neighbors. 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.
The State was represented by Assistant State’s Attorney April Skrenczuk on behalf of the citizens of Anne Arundel County. The investigation was led by the Anne Arundel County Police Department with support from the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, Annapolis City Fire investigators and explosive ordinance disposal unit.