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A Maryland teenager has admitted to the murder of a local business owner, with authorities stating that the teen assaulted the victim, kidnapped him, and set his truck on fire with him trapped inside.
Jonah Michael Poole, on March 18, entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder for the death of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza, as detailed in an arrest warrant issued by the Office of the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County.
Poole is set to be sentenced on June 26.
At 19 years old, Poole faces additional charges including second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit murder, and arson, according to a statement from the Anne Arundel County Police Department. His girlfriend, Kylee Alyssa Dakes, who is also implicated, faces similar charges, including first-degree murder.
The court documents do not clarify whether Dakes has entered a plea. Her next court appearance is scheduled for April 28, and her trial is set to commence on June 8. Dakes’s legal representative did not immediately respond to Oxygen‘s request for a comment.
Back in May, Anne Arundel police and fire personnel responded to a 911 call about a truck in Koza’s Tropic Bay Water Gardens parking lot, which had burst into flames right before a red car fled the scene, per the warrant.
When the fire was extinguished, according to the press release, Koza’s remains were found inside the car.
Koza’s hands, arms and mouth had been bound with tape, stated the warrant, and he was not wearing shoes. An autopsy cited in the warrant stated that Koza had sustained blunt force trauma to the head.
Authorities found a “Bass Pro” baseball hat on the ground next to the truck. Meanwhile, inside the business, there were signs of a struggle, per the warrant, including broken items, a plastic bag with blood, a pair of shoes, blood on the ground and a rock that had been dislodged from a retail display.
Investigators wrote in the warrant that they believe Poole and Dakes attacked Koza inside his store, likely placed him in his truck, and drove to a gas station to purchase gasoline for an accelerant, before returning to Koza’s store to light his truck, with him inside it, on fire.
Surveillance video from that gas station, which was cited in the warrant, allegedly featured a couple arriving in a pickup truck driven by a man who appeared to be wearing a Bass Pro baseball hat. The footage allegedly showed his female companion exiting the car, handing money to an attendant, and walking out of the store.
Poole and Dakes’ motive is unclear, and a spokesperson from the Office of the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County declined to comment when asked by Oxygen.
An attorney for Poole could not immediately be reached by Oxygen.