Teen Pleads Guilty to Murdering Business Owner

Washington DC News Today | 2 Min News | The Daily News Now! · Jun 27, 2026 · 1m

A 19-year-old man, Jonah Michael Poole, has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the brutal murder of Edward Stephen Koza, owner of Tropic Bay Water Gardens. In May 2025, Koza was found dead in his own burned-out pickup truck after being bound, gagged, and forced into the vehicle before being doused in gasoline and set ablaze. Poole, who had briefly worked for Koza, pleaded guilty in March and is also responsible for spray-painting a swastika on a school and stealing $11,000 from a dock bar where his girlfriend, Kylee Dakes, worked. Surveillance footage showed Dakes buying $10…