Jonah Poole gets life in prison in killing of garden shop owner Edward Koza
By Kate Amara
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ANNAPOLIS, Maryland (WBAL) — A judge sentenced an Anne Arundel County man in the killing of a garden shop owner last year.
Jonah Poole, 19, of Davidsonville, pleaded guilty in March to first-degree murder in the killing of Edward Koza, 67, in May 2025. The guilty plea came months after a judge ruled that Poole was competent to stand trial. Police said Koza, the owner of Tropic Bay Water Gardens, was kidnapped before his killing.
On Friday, the defense sought a life sentence with all but 30 years suspended and a referral to the Youthful Offenders Program. The Anne Arundel County judge sentenced Poole to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Poole stood and told the court: “I think I deserve whatever I get. I’m sorry because he didn’t have to die and I have no excuses for what I did. I hope that God can forgive me. I don’t expect anyone else to forgive me.”
The Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney’s Office released a statement, saying, in part: “Due to the Defendant’s age, the judge will refer him to the Patuxent Youth Facility’s Youthful Offender Program. He 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.”
In referring Poole to the state’s Youthful Offender Program, the judge indicated that if not for the plea deal, she might have sentenced Poole without parole.
“I think the sentencing went well for us today. I think the judge had a very difficult decision to make and we respect her decision,” said David Fischer, Poole’s defense attorney.
County prosecutors said Poole and his co-defendant and high school girlfriend, Kylee Alyssa Dakes, 19, killed Koza inside his garden shop, leaving behind a knife, a bloody decorative koi pond rock and other evidence.
Prosecutors said the pair then drove Koza’s truck with his body in the back before setting the truck on fire in the shop’s parking lot.
Dakes was charged with first-degree murder and pleaded not guilty. Her trial is scheduled in December and she plans to argue battered spouse syndrome and testify in her own defense.
Prosecutors said they’ve amassed evidence in the case that includes detention center phone calls and visitor logs, data from the couple’s cell phones and their exported chat log from Snapchat.
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