ANNE ARUNDEL CO., MD — Jonah Poole, a 19-year-old from Davidsonville, pleaded guilty Tuesday to malicious destruction of property, according to the Capital Gazette.
The charge stems from a May incident in which Poole was accused of spray-painting a swastika and derogatory words on the private Summit School in Edgewater.
The plea was part of a larger deal tied to the murder of local shop owner Edward Stephen Koza. Poole pleaded guilty in March to killing the Annapolis resident in May 2025.
Although Poole was initially charged in June with hate crimes and trespassing in the vandalism case, the plea agreement struck in relation to the murder case makes it so he will not be prosecuted on those offenses, according to the Capital Gazette.
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Both Poole and his 19-year-old girlfriend, Kylee Alyssa Dakes, were charged in the Koza case with murder, arson and kidnapping after the business owner's body was found in the backseat of a burning car.
Court records previously filed stated Koza's arms were bound and that his mouth was taped over.
Officers said Poole worked Koza's shop, Tropic Bay Water Gardens, for just two weekends in 2024.
Poole is scheduled to be sentenced in the case on June 26. Dakes has a trial appearance scheduled for June 8.
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Edgewater, MD Patch
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