Investigators say Chardae Sapp admitted setting the Kingsessing blaze that killed Raymond Bell while intending to harm another relative.

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — A woman charged with murder in a fatal Kingsessing house fire allegedly told relatives that the blaze was meant to hurt a different cousin whom she believed had been speaking negatively about her, according to a criminal complaint described by local news reports. Raymond Bell, 25, died after firefighters pulled him from the burning home.

The allegation about the intended target has become one of the central details in the case against Chardae Sapp, 34, who was arrested Sept. 13, more than seven months after the Feb. 4 fire. Philadelphia prosecutors have charged her with murder, four counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated assault, arson, causing or risking a catastrophe, possessing an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person. The charges remain allegations, and prosecutors will have to prove them in court.

The fire began at about 1:38 a.m. inside a home on the 5400 block of Regent Street in the Kingsessing section of Southwest Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. Firefighters arrived to find residents outside the burning property. Bell was discovered unresponsive in a second-floor bedroom and taken to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:29 a.m. Four other residents were also taken to the hospital for treatment, prosecutors said.

Fire marshals concluded during their preliminary investigation that the blaze had been intentionally set. Authorities said it began in a second-floor front bedroom after an open flame was applied to combustible material that included bedding and mattress materials. Investigators also said Sapp was the last known occupant of the room where the fire originated and that she left the house shortly before the fire was discovered. Those findings placed the room, Sapp’s movements and the timing of her departure at the center of the investigation.

Relatives provided another part of the account. According to the criminal complaint as reported by WPVI, family members told investigators they saw Sapp inside the house before the fire. When smoke was noticed, relatives tried to reach Bell but could not get to him. The accounts of those witnesses are significant because they describe who was in the home shortly before the blaze and what happened as family members realized someone remained inside.

The complaint also describes several statements Sapp allegedly made after the fire. Investigators said she told her father that she had intentionally started the blaze and wanted to hurt another cousin because she believed that relative had been saying bad things about her. When a sister later asked Sapp about the fire, the complaint says Sapp responded that she “didn’t mean it.” During an interview with police, Sapp allegedly said, “I set the fire,” and acknowledged that “an innocent person lost their life.” Those statements have been attributed to investigators and court documents and have not been tested at trial.

The distinction between the person allegedly targeted and the person who died is a major part of the prosecution’s account. Authorities have not publicly identified the other cousin in the reports reviewed for this article, and the available records do not establish that Bell was involved in the dispute Sapp allegedly described. Prosecutors instead say Bell was inside the home when the fire began and became the person who suffered the fatal consequences of a blaze allegedly set for a different purpose.

The case also extends beyond Bell’s death. The District Attorney’s Office filed four attempted-murder counts and four aggravated-assault counts, corresponding with allegations that four other people were endangered and injured in the occupied home. Prosecutors said those residents were taken to Penn Presbyterian for treatment. Earlier local reports varied on whether the other occupants were described as injured or as having escaped safely, but the later formal announcement from the District Attorney’s Office said one person was killed and four others were injured.

Sapp was not arrested immediately after the February fire. Police initially investigated the blaze as an arson after the fire marshal’s findings, and news reports at the time said a person of interest had been questioned. Authorities have not publicly provided a complete explanation for the roughly seven-month period between the fire and Sapp’s arrest. By September, however, prosecutors said witness interviews, the fire investigation and other evidence supported the filing of homicide and related charges.

The formal charging announcement also supplied details that were not included in some of the earliest reports. In addition to murder and arson, prosecutors accused Sapp of four attempted murders, four aggravated assaults, causing or risking a catastrophe, possessing an instrument of crime and reckless endangerment. District Attorney Larry Krasner called the fire a tragedy and said it could have been even deadlier had the flames spread faster. He also credited firefighters, fire marshals and police with investigating the case.

Some early reports differed on Sapp’s immediate court schedule and bail status. NBC10 reported after her arrest that a judge denied bail and that a preliminary hearing had been set for Sept. 28. WPVI separately reported a bail figure of 10% of $2 million and also listed Sept. 28 as a hearing date, while Law&Crime later reported an Oct. 14 preliminary-hearing date. The publicly accessible reports reviewed for this article did not establish the outcome of those scheduled proceedings, so no later hearing result is being stated as fact.

What is clear from the available record is that the criminal case rests on allegations about an intentionally set fire, witness accounts placing Sapp in the room where investigators say it began, and statements prosecutors contend she made to relatives and police. The alleged motive involving a different cousin remains part of the government’s theory rather than a proven finding. Sapp is accused, not convicted, and the charges against her remain pending unless and until resolved in court.

Author note: Last updated November 6, 2026.