Three youths who threw rock that killed a young woman driving outside Denver are charged with murder

By Phil Helsel -

Three Colorado high school students have been charged with first-degree murder in a case in which a woman died after a large rock was thrown through her windshield, the district attorney said Wednesday.

Alexa Bartell, 20, died after the landscaping rock struck her vehicle as she was driving down a street in Westminster, a Denver-area city, around 10:45 pm on April 19.

Nicholas

Karol-Chik, Joseph Koenig and Zachary Kwak, all 18 years old, had previously been detained.

Alexa Bartell.Jefferson County Sheriff's Office

They have each been charged with first-degree murder with extreme indifference and 12 other counts, First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King said in a statement Wednesday.

The trio reportedly threw stones at other vehicles that night.

Three other people were injured after stones were thrown at vehicles in a span of 45 minutes, according to the district attorney's office.

Seven vehicles in total were struck, according to the statement.

[Three young men are accused of taking photos and swearing as "blood brothers" after killing a woman by throwing a rock at her car]

Bartell's vehicle was the last to be struck that night, according to authorities.

The three people now charged are Jefferson County Public School seniors, a Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokesman said when they were arrested last week.

All three would have been driving another vehicle when the rocks were thrown at other vehicles, according to the sheriff's office.

In addition to the murder charge, they are each charged with seven counts of attempted murder, three counts of second-degree assault and three counts of attempted second-degree assault, according to the district attorney's office.

One of the people whose vehicle was hit by a rock has described seeing another car's headlights in the dark and then hearing “what sounded like a shotgun blast” as his window was smashed.

Court information available online Wednesday night made it unclear whether the three had lawyers who could speak on their behalf.

Detailed case files do not appear to be remotely available in Colorado.