Man Sentenced For 2024 Manasota Key Home Arson

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — A man convicted of setting fire to a Manasota Key home in 2024 was sentenced to 15 years in prison followed by 15 years of probation, the State Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Stancel Jeffrey May was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Danielle Brewer after a jury found him guilty in July of first-degree arson of a dwelling.

The four-day trial was held June 29 through July 2 at the Sarasota County Courthouse. Brewer presided over both the trial and the subsequent sentencing hearing.

The case stemmed from a September 2024 fire at a two-story residential building on Manasota Key, the state attorney’s office said.

The property owner reported the fire shortly after 8 a.m. after discovering smoke coming from the upper portion of the home.

Firefighters with the Englewood Fire Department and Sarasota County Fire Department extinguished the fire and secured the scene.

Local officials then contacted detectives with the Bureau of Fire and Arson Explosives Investigations after determining the circumstances warranted further investigation.

Investigators determined the fire was not caused by an electrical problem or an accident based on physical evidence collected at the scene, the state attorney’s office said.

Detectives later obtained surveillance video showing a man approaching the property and leaving just minutes before the fire was discovered. The man was dressed in black and had his face concealed.

The woman and her children who lived at the home identified the man as May, their husband and father, ABC 7 reported at the time of the fire.

Witnesses identified him based on his clothing, posture and gait, prosecutors said.

Investigators also obtained license plate reader data that showed May’s vehicle was in the area around the time of the fire.

When questioned by detectives, May provided information about his whereabouts that investigators determined was inconsistent with the evidence, the state attorney’s office said.

Investigators also obtained May’s cell phone and found that texts, calls, and location data had been deleted from a time period covering the time of the fire, prosecutors said.

“Thanks to the quick response of the firefighters and law enforcement in this case, the courage of the victims that identified the Defendant to stand up to him, and the jury’s verdict holding him accountable, this Defendant will spend a significant amount of time removed from society for the protection of all,” Assistant State Attorney S. Ethan Dunn, lead prosecutor in the case, said in a statement.

Dunn thanked the Englewood Fire Department, Sarasota County Fire Department, Florida’s Forensic Services Lab and BFAEI detectives for their work on the investigation.

“The court’s sentence will provide much-deserved years of peace and security for the families affected by this senseless act of domestic violence,” he said.

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