Jonah Michael Poole is a teen killer from Maryland who has plead guilty to the murder of his boss Edward Stephen Koza
According to court documents Jonah Michael Poole along with his girlfriend Kylie Dokes would ambush Edward Stephen Koza inside of his place of business. He would be wrapped up in duct tape and thrown into his vehicle which was then set on fire
Jonah Michael Poole and Kylie Dokes would be arrested and charged with murder
Jonah Michael Poole would eventually plead guilty in the death of Edward Stephen Koza
Kylie Dokes is set to stand trial in late April 2026 for the murder charges
Jonah Michael Poole Case
A Maryland teenager accused of attacking his former boss and then killing him by setting his car on fire with him inside pleaded guilty to the crime.
Jonah Michael Poole, 19, entered a guilty plea on Wednesday months after he was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 67-year-old Edward Koza. Poole and his girlfriend, 19-year-old Kylee Alyssa Dakes, were accused of ambushing Koza at his workplace, binding him and covering his mouth with duct tape, and putting him in a car that they allegedly lit on fire while he was still inside.
Poole and Dakes were scheduled to go on trial in June before Poole entered his plea.
As Law&Crime previously reported, police responded to a call about a vehicle fire at the Tropic Bay Water Gardens store in Davidsonville, Maryland, on the night of May 24, 2025. Koza’s bound body was found inside the car after the fire was extinguished. A melted gasoline container was found nearby, along with a discarded Bass Pro Shops hat. Police believed the presence of the container and the hat pointed to an intentionally set fire.
According to criminal complaints obtained by Washington, D.C., news outlets, Poole and Dakes went to Koza’s store around 5:30 p.m. that day and allegedly attacked him before tying him up and forcing him into his own car. Surveillance cameras at a gas station spotted Koza’s car with a male subject, later identified as Poole, in the driver’s seat wearing a Bass Pro Shops hat and a flannel shirt. A female subject, allegedly Dakes, was seen getting out of the passenger side of the car and giving a clerk two $5 bills that police believed were used to purchase the container of gasoline.
Police said Poole and Dakes returned to Tropic Bay Water Gardens, the business owned by Koza, where they parked the car and set it on fire with Koza still alive inside.
Further investigation revealed that Poole worked at Koza’s store for a couple of weekends the year before. Police believed the motivation behind the attack was robbery.
Poole entered his guilty plea on Wednesday and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26. Dakes pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court on April 28. She remains in custody at the Anne Arundel County Jail.
