A trio of Colorado high school students have been arrested and charged with murder after allegedly throwing massive rocks into moving cars. On the night of April 19th, 20-year-old Alexa Bartell was driving in Westminster when a landscaping rock was hurled at her vehicle. Her car ran off of the road causing a fatal accident, but the sheriff’s office confirmed she was ultimately killed by the impact of being pelted by the rock, and not the crash. Authorities say it can be assumed that the three boys were throwing rocks at other cars that very same night, as three others were injured in addition to the girl they had just allegedly murdered. 

Seven total cars were struck. 

Uber driver Nathan Tipton was one of the people who survived his car being struck and described the noise as “what sounded like a shotgun blast.” According to the court documents one of the boys compared the sound of the rock hitting Alexa’s windshield to a “rail gun.” 

She died terrified. 

Nicholas Karol-Chik, Joseph Koenig and Zachary Kwak were in their own vehicle when these rocks were thrown at others. The three 18-year-olds were identified based on the black 2016 Chevy Silverado they were using during the incident. The police also received multiple anonymous tips and reports of rocks being thrown through car windows and windshields. This probably had a lot to do with the reward placed on the case. It started at $2,000 for finding the people that killed her, and was then raised to $17,000 because of a generous donation from somebody in the Bartell’s inner circle. 

In addition to the murder charge, they each have 7 counts of attempted murder, three counts of second-degree assault, and three counts of second-degree attempted assault. Joseph’s father, Mark Koenig, was also arrested for attempting to stop officers from interrogating his son about Alexa’s death. 

Alexa Bartell was on the phone with one of her friends when the rock shattered her windshield. The phone call abruptly ended, but he only became increasingly concerned when she would not pick up the phone when he called her back. She became unreachable, so her friend used the app Find-My-iPhone to locate her. When the cops arrived at the scene, they found blood everywhere, along with Alexa. She had serious head injuries, and no pulse. The rock was laying in her passenger seat with an obvious blood stain on it, determining that it was the murder weapon. 

Many tributes have been paid to Alexa following her death.

A memorial has been set up on Indiana Street, at the site of Bartell’s death. The overpass in Jefferson County, Colorado is overflowing with flowers, candles, notes, and memories of Alexa and her life that was cut too short.