Jonah Michael Poole pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the gruesome killing of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza.
DAVIDSONVILLE, Md. — A Maryland man pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering a garden center owner in Davidsonville last summer.
According to the Maryland State’s Attorney of Anne Arundel County, 19-year-old Jonah Michael Poole pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the gruesome killing of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza.
The murder made headlines after police confirmed a video circulating widely on social media showing an individual who appears to be setting fire to a vehicle was part of their investigation.
Koza owned the Tropic Bay Water Gardens in Davidsonville. Police were called to the business shortly before 9:30 p.m. on May 24, 2025. The caller told authorities that they saw a strange light from the parking lot just before seeing a pickup truck burst into flames, court documents said. Emergency responders put out the fire, and when the flames were extinguished, court documents say they discovered Koza dead inside the backseat of the car. An autopsy later determined he had suffered blunt force trauma to his head.
RELATED: Two 18-year-olds charged in gruesome killing of garden center owner
Down the street at a BP gas station, surveillance footage reportedly showed a man in a Bass Pro Shops hat and wearing a flannel driving Koza’s pickup truck. A woman got out of the car at the gas station, gave the attendant two $5 bills and returned to the car, court documents said. Officials identified the couple as Poole and his girlfriend, Kylee Dakes.
On May 31, detectives arrested and charged the two 18-year-old high school seniors with Koza’s death.
Poole is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.
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