Boyfriend Takes Plea for Fatally Shooting Girlfriend and Burning Her Body

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A 53-year-old Baltimore man pleaded guilty to the murder of his girlfriend on April 18 after shooting her in the head and burning her body inside her apartment on Abbott Court in 2021.

Keith Fleming initially faced more than 50 charges for the incident, including multiple counts of attempted first and second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment, as well as several firearms charges.

During his appearance before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Charles Dorsey on Tuesday, the defendant accepted the prosecution’s plea offer for second-degree murder, arson, firearm use in a felony violent crime, and five counts of reckless endangerment. Fleming, who was represented by Janet Andersen and Robert Cohen, is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 7.

Baltimore City firefighters were called to the 800 block of Abbott Court in the early morning hours of Sept. 14, 2021, where they extinguished the flames and found the charred body of 55-year-old Pamela Pitts in her body in her apartment on the bottom floor. Court documents state that Baltimore Police detectives reviewed CCTV surveillance footage and saw someone going to and from the victim’s apartment beginning around 4:00 a.m. up until a fire was seen on camera shortly after 5:30 a.m.

The suspect, later identified as Fleming, told detectives that he had an intimate relationship with Pitts and had been at her apartment until 2:30 a.m., watching football and playing cards with her brother. Police learned from Pitts’ daughter that the victim’s two brothers hadn’t seen their sister in four months and four years, respectively.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner also informed police that Pitts was shot in her head prior to the fire.

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