A second teenager, Nicholas Karol-Chik, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Alexa Bartell, who was killed when she was struck in the head by a rock while driving in Jefferson County, Colorado.
Karol-Chik, one of three teenagers accused of throwing rocks at multiple cars, has also pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder after nine people reported that rocks were thrown at their cars on the night of April 19, 2023.
Last week, Zachary Kwak pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, admitting that he was involved in the rock throwing.
The police suspect the third teenager, Joseph Koenig, was the one who threw the rock that killed 20-year-old Bartell and have charged him with first-degree murder. Koenig has pleaded not guilty and is facing a trial this summer.
Karol-Chik admitted in court this week that he handed a rock to Koenig, which the latter then flung at Bartell’s oncoming car.
The police believe that on one night, Koenig, Karol-Chik, and Kwak drove around the Denver suburb of Arvada and surrounding areas encompassing parts of Boulder and Jefferson counties while randomly flinging pieces of landscaping rocks and concrete at oncoming vehicles.
The police suspect Joseph Koenig threw the rock that killed Alexa Bartell
The detectives, Karol-Chik and Kwak, say that Koenig was the driver. All three teenagers, who were 18 at the time, threw rocks at a total of seven vehicles, injuring three drivers and killing Bartell.
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In the case of Bartell, the three teenagers were traveling about 80 mph along Indiana Street in Jefferson County when a four to six-inch rock was thrown at Bartell’s windscreen. Bartell’s car came to a stop about 100 feet off the road in a field.
The police stated that the three men returned to Bartell’s car to take photos as a memento.
Alexa Bartell killed by a rock to the head thrown by teenagers
When the cops arrived at the scene, they found Bartell’s car with a hole in the windscreen and the back window blown out. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The cops tested the rock for DNA but found only Bartells. The prosecution has admitted that they don’t know for sure who threw the rock, so AP News noted that they may need to rely on Karol-Chik and Kwak’s testimony to get a conviction against Koenig.
Karol-Chik will be sentenced in September and is facing 35 to 72 years behind bars. Kwak will likely receive 20 to 32 years. Koenig will go on trial for first-degree murder in July.