One of Two Individuals in Davidsonville Arson-Murder Case Sentenced to Life with the Possibility of Parole
One of the two people charged in connection with an arson turned murder investigation following a discovery of burned remains outside a business in Davidsonville last year.
Yesterday in the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, Jonah Michael Poole, age 19, of Davidsonville, was sentenced to Life in Prison with the Possibility of Parole. Poole pleaded guilty to First-Degree Murder on March 18, 2026, in the May 2025 death of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza, owner of Tropic Bay Water Gardens in Davidsonville.
Poole was also ordered to forfeit approximately $215,000 stolen from the victim, and a $15,000 truck purchased with additional stolen funds to the victim's estate.
Poole's co-defendant, 19-year-old Kylee Alyssa Dakes, was also charged with First-Degree Murder and is pending trial to begin December 1, 2026.
According to charging documents, at approximately 9:25 p.m. on May 24, 2025, Anne Arundel County Police and fire personnel responded to Tropic Bay, located at 600 West Central Avenue, for a reported vehicle fire. Upon arrival, crews discovered a vehicle fully engulfed in flames in the business’s parking lot. After extinguishing the fire, responders located human remains inside the passenger compartment. The victim’s mouth, hands, and feet were bound with tape, according to investigators.
A video published by Fox45 News appears to show the defendants prior to the incident:
Court records indicate Koza was the owner of both the vehicle and the business. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide. Investigators had previously identified Poole as a suspect in a separate vandalism incident that allegedly occurred on May 15, 2025, at The Summit School in Edgewater, resulting in hate crime charges. He was served with a warrant in that case on June 13, 2025, while already in custody at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center.
Dakes and Poole were taken into custody just days before their Southern High School graduation, sources told Report Annapolis News.
In addition to the arson-murder and hate crime allegations, Poole faced charges in a third case related to an alleged commercial burglary which reportedly occurred on May 18, 2025. The statuses of those cases were not immediately available.
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