Two 18-year-olds, Jonah Poole and Kylee Dakes, are at the center of a tragic investigation after the murder of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza, whose body was discovered in his incinerated truck at Tropic Bay Aquatic Garden Center. The Anne Arundel County Police are currently attempting to verify a video that has been circulating on social media, which appears to show an individual lighting the victim's truck on fire. The authenticity of the video remains a key piece in the investigation, as reported by CBS News Baltimore.
Caught on surveillance video, Poole and Dakes were allegedly seen at a nearby BP gas station on May 24, moments before the crime occurred. With Koza believed to be inside the vehicle at the time, Dakes was observed talking to Poole, who was inside the victim's truck, before she went to pay for gas, as detailed by FOX Baltimore. Shortly afterwards, responding to a 911 call, officers found Koza's burned vehicle, with his body inside, in the parking lot of his business, where Poole's cell phone records reportedly placed him before and immediately after the fire began.
The young suspects are facing multiple charges, including first- and second-degree murder, assault, conspiracy to commit murder, and arson, following the horrific incident involving Koza. On May 24, police assert that after attacking and binding Koza, they allegedly placed him in his pickup truck, procured gasoline, and set the vehicle ablaze at the garden center, where Poole had previously worked for two weekends. During a court hearing on Monday, Poole and Dakes were ordered to be held without bail, according to reports from a court hearing mentioned by CBS News Baltimore.
Before the murder investigation, Poole also faced allegations of breaking into the Pirates Cove restaurant on May 18, inflicting around $6,000 in damages and absconding with over $11,000 from the safe, according to the police. Conversant with Poole's history, people familiar with him believe he was a former employee of Koza's at Tropic Bay, as mentioned by CBS News Baltimore. Dakes, who was let go from her position at the same restaurant just days before the burglary, had been planning to attend Notre Dame of Maryland to study radiology.
