Teens charged with rock-throwing murder appear in court for arraignment
The three teenagers accused of killing a woman after throwing a rock through her windshield were formally charged in court.
Joseph Koenig, Nicholas ‘Mitch’ Karol-Chik, and Zachary Kwak, all 18, were charged with first-degree murder, six counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of second-degree assault, and three counts of attempted second-degree assault after allegedly throwing large rocks at oncoming cars in Colorado.
The rock-throwing spree on April 19 damaged at least six cars and left one person dead – 20-year-old Alexis Bartell. Investigators determined Bartell was killed by the rock, not by the subsequent car crash.
Koenig, Karol-Chik, and Kwak said very little in the Jefferson County coutroom on Wednesday. Each only replied ‘yes, your honor’ when asked if they understood the charges against them.
‘We thank the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation and the community for their commitment to identifying the suspects,’ District Attorney Alexis King said. ‘Based on the available facts and after careful legal analysis, we have filed charges and will now move forward with a criminal prosecution.’
The trio are due back in court on May 16. They are being held without bail.
Koenig, Karol-Chik, and Kwak were arrested on April 25. They were identified by ‘cell phone device forensics,’ which placed them in the same locations as each of the rock attacks.
Investigators then interviewed a fourth teenager, Joseph Bopp, who was with the trio before the attacks.
‘Koenig, Mitch, and Zach were picking up landscaping rocks from the edge of the parking lot and putting them in the back seat of the truck’s cab,’ an arrest warrant affidavit states.
Koenig refused to speak to investigators, but Karol-Chik and Kwak came clean.
According to Kwak, Karol-Chik and Koenig spoke about becoming ‘blood brothers’ after throwing the stone that killed Bartell.
Kwak told Koenig, who was driving, to turn around so they could take a ‘memento’ photo of Bartell’s crashed car. ‘We have to go back and see it,’ he allegedly said.
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