The death of Alexa Bartell: 3 teens arrested after woman killed by rock thrown into her car
JEFFERSON COUNTY, COLORADO: Three teenagers have been arrested in connection to the murder of Arvada resident Alexa Bartell, the 20-year-old woman who was killed by a "large landscaping rock" that smashed through her vehicle's windshield while she was on the phone with a friend. Zachary Kwak, Nicholas 'Mitch' James Karol-Chik, and Edwin Koenig, all of whom are above 18 have been charged with first-degree 'extreme indifference' murder, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office.
Following the incident, Karol-Chik and Koenig were taken into custody and booked on Tuesday night, April 25. Kwak's name has not been mentioned in the Jefferson County jail records, as of Wednesday morning, April 26. All three suspects are Arvada residents, according to Law and Crime.
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Suspects were on a rock-throwing spree
Announcing the suspect's arrest, the sheriff's office stated that "Overnight Tuesday, April 25 – Wednesday, April 26, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Investigators arrested three suspects in connection with the death of 20-year-old Alexa Bartell."
"Alexa was killed when a rock was thrown through her windshield as she was driving northbound in the 10600 block of Indiana Street at approximately 10:45 pm on Wednesday, April 19. Alexa’s vehicle was the last of a series of vehicles struck by large landscaping rocks in a spree that began shortly after 10:00 pm that night at 100th and Simms in Westminster," the statement added. It remains unclear who drove the suspect vehicle during the incident.
As per Colorado law, a first-degree murder by extreme indifference is charged when there are "circumstances evidencing an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life generally," and the suspect "engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person, or persons, other than himself, and thereby causes the death of another." According to authorities, the teenagers were on a rock-throwing spree that led to the death of Bartell and the suspects will be facing additional charges in the case.
Alexa was on her phone talking to a friend when the rock smashed her vehicle
On Wednesday, April 19, Bartell drove her Chevy Spark around 10.45 pm on Indiana St when the suspect "possibly from a vehicle or the side of the road, threw a large rock at the victim’s vehicle, which struck and killed her."
"In the moments before she was killed, Alexa was on her phone talking to a friend when the phone went silent. Alexa’s friend tracked her phone and drove to the location on Indiana St. She found Alexa fatally wounded inside her car, which was off the roadway in a field," the sheriff's office stated.
