Three teenagers in the area of the Denver area cheered one night to throw rocks into the cars, even one of the stones crashed by a windshield and killed a woman, which led to a conviction for murder on Friday after the trio turned one into one.
The jury members found Joseph Koenig guilty of first degree murder in the death of Alexa Bartell on April 19, 2023, after the other young people traveling with him reached agreements with prosecutors and testified against him. Koenig, now 20 years old, was also convicted of murder attempt and other less serious crimes for rocks and other objects thrown into vehicles the night Bartell was killed and the previous week.
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Bartell’s family and friends hugged and cried in the court after the verdict.
His mother, Kelly Bartell, said later that Justice had made his leg, but had feelings found, expressing some sympathy for Koenig and the other two young people, who were 18 years old when their daughter was killed.
“It’s hard to be happy or feel satisfied that justice is served today, because I feel that an incredible life was lost and three others are also lost and affected,” he said.
The jury members had to change the change and competitor versions of the truth offered by the former Koenig coacusados duration of the two -week trial.
Kelly Bartell, Alexa Bartell’s mother, who died after a rock crashed through the windshield of her car, speaks at Jefferson Combined Court in Golden, Colorado, on Friday. (Photo AP/Colleen Slevin)
No one played that a 9 -pound landscaping rock (4 kilograms) of a Walmart parking lot crashed through Bartell’s windshield, killing her instantly. The problem was who attributed it. The only DNA found in the rock was that of Bartell, doing the testimony of the other two, Zachary Kwak and Nicholas Karol-Chik, key to the Prosecutor’s Office.
Koenig’s lawyers said Kwak threw the rock that killed Bartell. But Kwak and Karol-Chik, whose PLAEA agreements on minor positions could lead to shorter prison sentences, Koenig said. Althegh Karol-Chik said that each one threw about 10 rocks that night, Kwak testified that he did not throw any.
District attached prosecutor Katharine Decker, told the jurors that Bartell’s damage was consistent with Koenig-Who Who is left-handed and driving the rock, in the firing style, outside the driver’s side window, like Karol-Chik testified. Even if the jury members were not convinced that Koenig threw it, she told them that they should find him guilty of first degree murder as a conspirator.
Koenig’s lawyers said he didn’t know that no one had been injured until Bartell’s car left the road. They also argued that he had a borderline personality disorder, affecting his control and impulse judgment.
Defensor lawyer Martin Stuart asked the jury to find Koenig guilty of involuntary homicide, the least serious position he faced, saying he did not try to kill her knowingly. The jury members also had the option of finding it guilty of involuntary homicide as a conspirator.
After seeing Bartell’s car out of the road, the three friends returned a couple of times to look again, according to the testimony. Kwak took a photo as a memory, but nobody reviewed the driver or asked for help, according to his testimony.
Bartell’s body would not be discovered until his girlfriend, Jenna Griggs, who was in a call with her when she cut abruptly, tracked her phone to the field, he testified.
The three agreed not to talk to anyone about what happened, but Kwak, the newest for the group of friends, later researchers that Koenig launched the rock. Karol-Chik, who said that Koenig was like a “brother” for him, initially pointed to Kwak’s finger before changing his story and blaming Koenig.
Karol-Chik testified that Koenig seemed “excited” while driving by Bartell’s car and at a time they made a sound of “shout.”
“It seemed to celebrate,” said Karol-Chik, who admitted to placing the rock next to Koenig to be able to grab and throw it.
Koenig’s lawyers tried to question the reliability of the other men’s accounts, but also emphasized that none of the three intended to hurt anyone. The defense refused to comment on the conviction.
Kwak first signed in a guilt, declaring himself guilty in May 2024 to the first degree assault. In doing so, he acknowledged acting in a way that created a serious risk of death. He also declared himself guilty of second degree assault and tried second degree assault by rocks that were presented earlier at night. He faces between 20 and 32 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
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Approximately a week later, Karol-Chik declared himself guilty of second degree murder and committing a crime of violence. Hi, he also declared guilty of an attempt at first-degree murder for throwing rocks to a total of nine people that night already of 2023. Under his agreement, Karol-Chik could be sent to Prisonson for Betsday, a des. He is.
Koenig will be sentenced on June 3 and face a mandatory period of life for the conviction for murder.
