Two high school sweethearts in Anne Arundel County who were set to receive their diplomas on Monday instead remained behind bars, accused by police in the death of a 67-year-old businessman whose remains were found inside his burned vehicle.

Detectives believe Jonah Michael Poole and Kylee Alyssa Dakes, both 18, attacked the owner of a koi pond business in Davidsonville on the evening of May 24, authorities say. Police allege that the pair beat Edward Stephen Koza, bound his arms, covered his mouth with tape and took him for a ride in his pickup truck before dousing the vehicle in gasoline and setting it ablaze.

Koza, the 67-year-old owner of Tropic Bay Water Gardens, died from his injuries, police said Monday, the same day his alleged killers appeared in court for the first time. Authorities have not said whether they believe Koza was alive when his vehicle was set on fire.

Poole, of Davidsonville, and Dakes, of Harwood, are both charged with murder, conspiracy and arson. Judges separately ordered them held without bond Monday.

Attorneys for the teens either declined to comment or could not be reached.

Investigators haven’t identified a motive in the killing.

But police said the suspects were in a “romantic” relationship. And charging documents made public for the first time Monday explain how detectives connected them to a charred corpse found outside of a koi pond store.

Vehicle ‘burst into flames’

Officers and firefighters responded around 9:25 p.m. May 24 to Koza’s business at 600 West Central Ave., arriving to find what police described as “a vehicle fully engulfed in flames in the parking lot of a commercial business.” That vehicle, charging documents say, was Koza’s pickup truck.

A passerby called 911 after seeing “some type of strange light from the parking lot” before the pickup “burst into flames,” detectives wrote. The caller also told authorities they saw a car leaving the parking lot.

Once firefighters extinguished the flames, they noticed human remains in the back seat of the truck. According to charging documents, the person had been bound with tape and, while officials did not officially identify Koza until Monday, there were immediate signs that it was the koi store owner: The victim, like Koza, was missing a thumb and matched his “general physical stature.”

Police found a Bass Pro Shop cap next to the pickup and the melted spout of a plastic gas can inside. Although the Anne Arundel County Fire Department is still investigating the cause of the blaze, detectives wrote that “it was the opinion of the investigator the fire of the vehicle was arson and an accelerant was used.”

When investigators went into Koza’s store, charging documents say, they immediately recognized signs of a struggle: Things were knocked over and broken. They discovered a pair of shoes (and Koza was found barefoot). There was blood on a plastic bag and on the ground next to a rock that had been removed from a display case.

According to its website, Koza’s business specialized in koi pond repairs and installations. It carried fish for the ponds, water treatment supplies and pond accessories.

“The staff at Tropic Bay Water Garden are so pleasant,” a customer named Karen wrote in a review. “Everything I need for my Koi pond is here. If they don’t have something I need at the store the owner will order it. We bought all 12 of our Koi from this location.”

Victim suffered blunt force trauma

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore ruled Koza’s death a homicide. While pathologists have not determined his cause of death, detectives said the doctors noted that he suffered blunt force trauma to the head.

Koza’s store was open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, but charging documents say Koza was known to stay past closing time. “An acquaintance” of the business owner drove by the store around 6 p.m. May 24 and noticed the truck was missing. Detectives wrote that the acquaintance recalled seeing a red vehicle, perhaps a Lincoln, parked outside.

Police searched the surrounding area for surveillance video. They said footage from a gas station less than half a mile from Koza’s store showed his truck pull up around 9 p.m. on the night of the fire. A “female subject” could be seen walking into the station and handing the cashier two five-dollar bills. A male wearing a flannel shirt and a Bass Pro cap was in the driver’s seat.

“Based on law enforcement records, other pertinent surveillance video and other information, the female was identified as Kylee Alyssa Dakes,” detectives wrote. “Dakes has a romantic partner, Jonah Michael Poole.”

Dakes and Poole were seniors at Southern High School, Anne Arundel County Public Schools spokesman Bob Mosier said. Commencement at Southern High was Monday.

Relatives who spoke at Dakes’ bail review Monday said she was set to graduate with honors and had already enrolled in Notre Dame of Maryland University, where she was determined to study nursing because she wanted to help others.

“She is an achiever,” her uncle, Rev. John T. Dakes, told District Judge Shaem C.P. Spencer, describing his niece as friendly and outgoing. “She would never hurt anybody.”

John Dakes speculated that his daughter was at the wrong place at the wrong time. He and other relatives declined to speak to reporters after court.

Defense attorney Howard Walsh told Spencer there was “no direct evidence against Kylee,” adding that she “denies any involvement in this.”

Detectives learned that Poole drove a red Lincoln sedan. According to charging documents, license plate readers snapped pictures of his license plate near Koza’s store around the time of his death.

“Based on all the facts and circumstances under consideration,” detectives wrote in charging documents, “investigators believe the suspects attacked Koza at the business sometime during the evening of May 24, 2025, near closing time … Koza was assaulted and taken captive by the suspects. Koza likely was put in the backseat of the truck at this point and was driven around the area for an unknown purpose.”

License plate readers also captured Poole’s car at Arundel Mills Mall around 1 p.m. that day, charging documents say. Security cameras showed the couple walking into the store, with detectives describing a woman they believe to be Dakes wearing the same thing that the female suspect wore at the gas station. The pair bought a Bass Pro cap and flannel shirts, at least one of which “appears to be the same pattern” as the one the driver of Koza’s truck was wearing at the gas station.

According to charging documents, detectives identified Poole by comparing an image captured at the Bass Pro shop to his driver’s license and recent prom pictures.

Police also said they obtained his cellphone records, which showed that his phone was in the area of the koi pond store around the time the truck went up in flames.

This article has been updated.