Three Colorado teens arrested for murder in deadly rock throwing

Alexa Bartell, 20, was hit and killed by a rock as she drove home from work in Jefferson County

Zachary Kwak, Joseph Koenig and Nicholas Karol-Chik are facing charges in deadly Colorado rock throwing (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office)

Three high school students have been arrested for allegedly throwing large landscaping rocks at seven vehicles in Colorado, striking and killing a 20-year-old driver.

The suspects, who are all 18, were taken into custody overnight at their family homes in Arvada, Colorado, and now all face first-degree murder (extreme indifference) charges.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office announced the arrests on Wednesday morning in a statement shared to their Facebook page and said that additional charges are expected.

Authorities said that the suspects, who have been named as Joseph Koenig, Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak, all allegedly threw rocks during the incident, but it is unclear which of them was driving the car they were riding in.

Alexa Bartell, 20, was hit by the rock as she drove in the state’s Jefferson County at around 10.45pm last Wednesday.

Officials say Bartell was on the phone with a friend when the incident happened. The friend tracked her phone and found Bartell dead inside the car, which had come to a stop in a field.

Alexa Bartell (JCSO)

Officials say that in the hour before Bartell was struck and killed six other cars in the area had rocks thrown at them, and two other motorists suffered minor injuries.

Ride-share driver Nathan Tipton, a father of three, was one of the four victims who was uninjured.

“When I found out that this series of events actually took a young lady’s life, I feel for Alexa and her family. It put me in a bit of a shock. My wife, it really got to her,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “Nobody should lose their child for a random act. ... It’s heartbreaking.”

Phone forensics and leads from the public resulted in the arrests, said JCSO. The three suspects are expected to make their first court appearance on Thursday.