A chilling case has unfolded in Maryland involving the brutal killing of a local business owner. A teenager has confessed to the crime, which involved a violent assault, abduction, and the horrifying act of setting the victim’s vehicle ablaze with him trapped inside.

Jonah Michael Poole, 19, has entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder in connection with the tragic death of 67-year-old Edward Stephen Koza. This information was confirmed by a statement from the Office of the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County. Poole is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.

Alongside the murder charge, Poole faces multiple other allegations, including second-degree murder, first and second-degree assault, conspiracy to commit murder, and arson. These charges were detailed in a press release from the Anne Arundel County Police Department. Notably, Poole’s girlfriend, Kylee Alyssa Dakes, is also implicated as a co-defendant, facing similar charges, including first-degree murder.

The court documents have yet to clarify whether Dakes has entered a plea. She is slated to appear in court on April 28, with her trial set to commence on June 8. Efforts to reach her attorney for comment have so far been unsuccessful.

The crime first came to light in May when police and fire services in Anne Arundel responded to a distress call. They arrived to find a truck engulfed in flames in the parking lot of Koza’s Tropic Bay Water Gardens. Witnesses reported seeing a red car speed away from the scene just before the fire broke out, according to an arrest warrant reviewed by Oxygen.

Back in May, Anne Arundel police and fire personnel responded to a 911 call about a truck in Koza’s Tropic Bay Water Gardens parking lot, which had burst into flames right before a red car fled the scene, per an arrest warrant reviewed by Oxygen.

When the fire was extinguished, according to the police press release, Koza’s remains were found inside the car.

Koza’s hands, arms and mouth had been bound with tape, stated the warrant, and he was not wearing shoes. An autopsy cited in the warrant stated that Koza had sustained blunt force trauma to the head.

Authorities found a “Bass Pro” baseball hat on the ground next to the truck. Meanwhile, inside the business, there were signs of a struggle, per the warrant, including broken items, a plastic bag with blood, a pair of shoes, blood on the ground and a rock that had been dislodged from a retail display. 

Investigators wrote in the warrant that they believe Poole and Dakes attacked Koza inside his store, likely placed him in his truck, and drove to a gas station to purchase gasoline for an accelerant, before returning to Koza’s store to light his truck, with him inside it, on fire. 

Surveillance video from that gas station, which was cited in the warrant, allegedly featured a couple arriving in a pickup truck driven by a man who appeared to be wearing a Bass Pro baseball hat. The footage allegedly showed his female companion exiting the car, handing money to an attendant, and walking out of the store.

Poole and Dakes’ motive is unclear, and a spokesperson from the Office of the State’s Attorney for Anne Arundel County declined to comment when asked by Oxygen. 

An attorney for Poole could not immediately be reached by Oxygen.