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The suspects will be tried in three separate trials. Each is expected to last about nine days.
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The three people charged in the death of a 20-year-old woman who was killed when a rock was thrown into her vehicle last April will be tried this summer in three separate trials.
Alexa Bartell, 20, was killed as she drove on Indiana Street near Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge on April 19. At the time, Bartell was on the phone with a friend and the line went silent. Bartell’s friend tracked down her phone and drove to the location on Indiana Street to find Bartell dead inside her car, which was off the roadway in a field.
The suspects, Joe Koenig, Mitch Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, were all arrested on April 25. All of them appeared in court Wednesday afternoon for an arraignment hearing.
None of them entered a plea, which typically happens during an arraignment. Those were pushed off because once an arraignment happens, the trial must happen within six months.
Arraignments for all three are now set for March 15, ahead of their trials.
Karol-Chik is set for trial first, with a start date of June 7. Kwak’s trial will follow on June 24. Koenig is set for trial last. His trial is set to begin on July 19. Each trial is expected to last about nine days.
They’re each charged with first-degree murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.
On the same night that Bartell was killed, numerous other drivers reported that their vehicles were also struck by large rocks.
One man reported that he saw a rock come through his windshield, according to an arrest affidavit from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. It hit him in the shoulder and landed in his front seat, the affidavit says.
Investigators also spoke with another person who reported that he had been with the three suspects earlier in the evening on April 19 when they were loading up landscaping rocks from a Walmart store into their truck.
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