Teens’ night of rock throwing leads to murder conviction for 1 of them
[April 26, 2025]
By COLLEEN SLEVIN
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Three Denver-area teens cheered each other during a
night of throwing rocks at cars — until one of the stones crashed
through a windshield and killed a woman, leading to a murder conviction
Friday after the trio turned on one another.
Jurors found Joseph Koenig guilty of first-degree murder in the death of
Alexa Bartell on April 19, 2023, after the other young men riding with
him reached deals with prosecutors and testified against him. Koenig,
now 20, was also convicted of attempted murder and other less serious
crimes for rocks and other objects thrown at vehicles the night Bartell
was killed and in previous weeks.
Bartell’s family and friends hugged and cried in court after the
verdict.
Her mother, Kelly Bartell, said later that justice had been done but she
had mixed feelings, expressing some sympathy for Koenig and the other
two young men, who were all 18 when her daughter was killed.
“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,” she said.
Jurors had to consider shifting and competing versions of the truth
offered by Koenig's former co-defendants during the two-week trial.
No one disputed that a 9-pound (4-kilogram) landscaping rock taken from
a Walmart parking lot crashed through Bartell’s windshield, killing her
instantly. The issue was who threw it. The only DNA found on the rock
was Bartell’s, making the testimony from the other two, Zachary Kwak and
Nicholas Karol-Chik, key to the prosecution.
Lawyers for Koenig said Kwak threw the rock that killed Bartell. But
Kwak and Karol-Chik, whose plea agreements on lesser charges could lead
to shorter prison sentences, said Koenig threw it. Although Karol-Chik
said they each threw about 10 rocks that night, Kwak testified that he
did not throw any.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Katharine Decker told jurors the damage
to Bartell’s car was consistent with Koenig — who is left-handed and was
driving — throwing the rock, shotput-style, out the driver’s-side
window, as Karol-Chik testified. Even if jurors were unconvinced that
Koenig threw it, she told them, they should still find him guilty of
first-degree murder as a conspirator.
Koenig’s attorneys said he did not know anyone had been hurt until
Bartell’s car went off the road. They also argued that he had borderline
personality disorder, affecting his impulse control and judgment.
Defense lawyer Martin Stuart asked jurors to instead find Koenig guilty
of manslaughter, the least serious charge he faced, saying he did not
knowingly try to kill her. Jurors also had the option of finding him
guilty of manslaughter as a conspirator.
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Defendant Joseph Koenig listens to district court judge Christopher
C. Zenisek during an arraignment in Jefferson County district court
on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Golden, Colo. (AAron Ontiveroz/The
Denver Post via AP, File)
After seeing Bartell’s car leave the road, the three friends circled
back a few times to look again, according to testimony. Kwak took a
photo as a memento, but no one checked on the driver or called for
help, according to their testimony.
Bartell’s body would not be discovered until her girlfriend, Jenna
Griggs, who was on a call with her when it abruptly cut out, tracked
her phone to the field, she testified.
The three agreed not to talk to anyone about what happened, but Kwak,
the newest to the group of friends, later told investigators that
Koenig threw the rock. Karol-Chik, who said Koenig was like a
“brother” to him, initially pointed the finger at Kwak before
changing his story and blaming Koenig.
Karol-Chik testified that Koenig seemed “excited” as they drove by
Bartell’s car and at one point made a “whoop” sound.
“It sounded like him celebrating,” said Karol-Chik, who admitted
placing the rock next to Koenig so he could grab it and throw it.
Koenig’s lawyers tried to cast doubt on the reliability of the other
men’s accounts but also stressed that none of the three intended to
hurt anyone. The defense declined to comment on the conviction.
Kwak entered into a plea deal first, pleading guilty in May 2024 to
first-degree assault. In doing so he acknowledged acting in a way
that created a grave risk of death. He also pleaded guilty to
second-degree assault and attempted second-degree assault for rocks
that were thrown earlier in the night. He faces between 20 and 32
years in prison, according to prosecutors.
About a week later, Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to second-degree
murder and committing a crime of violence. He also pleaded guilty to
attempted first-degree murder for throwing rocks at a total of nine
people that night and earlier in 2023. Under his agreement, Karol-Chik
could be sent to prison for between 35 and 72 years when he is
sentenced Thursday, a day before Kwak.
Koenig is to be sentenced June 3 and faces a mandatory life term for
the murder conviction.
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