A man will serve a life sentence with the possibility for parole for his role in the May 2025 murder of a koi pond business owner in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.
Jonah Michael Poole, 19, of Davidsonville, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree murder in the death of Edward Stephen Koza, who owned Tropic Bay Water Gardens. Poole had briefly worked at the business.
Kylee Alyssa Dakes, 19, Poole’s girlfriend, has also been charged with first-degree murder and is scheduled to go on trial in December.
Authorities said on May 24, 2025, that police went to the 600 block of West Central Avenue in Davidsonville for a report of a vehicle on fire in the parking lot of a commercial business. Upon arrival, they put out the fire and found human remains, later identified as Koza, in the passenger compartment.
Prosecutors said Poole and Dakes attacked Koza at his store, bound his arms, taped his mouth and took him for a ride in his pickup truck. They then soaked the vehicle with gasoline and set it on fire with Koza in the back seat.
In addition to being charged with Koza’s murder, Poole was also charged with two crimes that took place before the killing: spray-painting a swastika on an Edgewater school and stealing more than $11,000 from a dock bar where Dakes worked.
Investigators said items inside Koza’s business were broken, and they also found blood and a pair of shoes, indicating that there was a struggle. Prosecutors said when they found Koza’s body, he didn’t have shoes on.
Authorities believe Poole and Dakes drove the truck to a gas station. Surveillance video showed Dakes bought about $10 worth of gasoline before the truck was set on fire.
After the fire was put out, investigators said they found a melted sprout from a plastic gas container.
Because of Poole’s age, and in addition to his life sentence, he was ordered to pay about $215,000 stolen from Koza and surrender a $15,000 truck bought with more stolen funds to Koza’s estate, according to .
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