Last week, a man from Colorado was found guilty by a jury of first-degree murder due to his involvement in an incident where a woman was killed by a landscaping stone thrown by a group of teenagers. The stone crashed through the woman’s windshield, causing her death.
While two other defendants had already admitted their roles in the events of April 19, 2023, which led to the tragic death of Alexa Bartell, Joseph Koenig, now 20 years old, opted for a jury trial, according to The Associated Press.
The victim, Alexa Bartell, aged 20, was driving on Indiana Street in Golden near the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge while talking on the phone with her girlfriend. A rock hit her in the head, resulting in her death, as reported by CrimeOnline. Her girlfriend heard the call go silent, tracked the phone, and discovered Bartell’s lifeless body in her car, which had swerved off the road. The medical examiner clarified that it was the impact of the rock, not the subsequent crash, that caused her death.
Investigators later learned the boys intentionally drove toward Bartell’s vehicle and slowed down to take a photograph of the crashed car as a “memento” of what happened. They did not stop to help.
That same day, two other victims were injured in earlier assaults involving rocks, while seven vehicles in total sustained damage from what authorities have characterized as “large landscaping rocks.” According to reports, the suspects may have been traveling in a moving vehicle at the time the rocks were thrown.
The boys were ultimately arrested after police identified them based on cellphone data and information from a friend who had been socializing with them before they began hurling rocks at vehicles.
Koenig was arrested, along with Zachary Kwak and Nicholas Karol-Chik, all three 18 at the time of the murder. Kwak was the first to plead guilty nearly a year ago, copping to first degree assault — acting a way that created a grave risk of death — as well as second degree assulat and attempted assault for earlier instances of rock throwing that night.
Karol-Chik pleaded guilty a week later, admitting to second degree murder, committing a crime of violence, and attempted first degree murder for earlier rock throwing instances.
According to the AP, Bartell’s family and friends hugged and cried after the verdict was read.
“It’s hard to be happy or feel satisfied that justice was served today, because I feel one amazing life was lost and three others are also lost and impacted,” her mother, Kelly Bartell, said.
Koenig’s attorneys attempted to blame his co-defendants for the rock — a 9-pound landscaping stone taken from a Walmart parking log — that killed Bartell. But both his co-defendants pointed the finger at him, although Karol-Chik initially blamed Kwak before his guilty plea.
Prosecutors said the damage to Bartell’s car was consistent with the left-handed Koenig throwing the rock out his driver’s window, which was Karol-Chik’s testimony.
The jury rejected lesser charges for him, particularly after hearing that the three teens circle past the crashed car a few times to look at it but never stopped to check on the driver or call for help. Kwak even took a photo for a “memento.”
Karol-Chik testified that Koenig made a “whoop” sound as they drove by Bartell’s crashed car. “It sounded like him celebrating,” he said.
Kwak and Karol-Chik’s sentencing was delayed until after Koenig’s trial. Karol-Chik could be sentenced to 35 to 72 years when he is sentenced on Thursday, and Kwak faces 20 to 32 years at his sentencing on Friday.
Koenig was also found guilty of attempted murder and other crimes for the earlier rock-throwing instances.
Koenig’s sentencing is set for June 3. He faces a mandator life sentence.
