The evil teenager who senselessly hurled a rock through a female driver’s windshield in Colorado was found guilty of first-degree murder.
Joseph Koenig hurled a nine-pound landscaping rock through Alexa Bartell’s windshield on April 19, 2023, killing her.
At the time, Koenig, now 20, was speeding in a truck going 103mph with two friends, Zachary Kwak and Nicholas ‘Mitch’ Karol-Chik, both then-18.
On Friday, a jury found Koenig guilty on all 19 counts after a two week trial and about eight hours of deliberation.
In addition to first-degree murder, Koenig was found guilty of six counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of assault in the second-degree and five counts of criminal attempt to commit assault in the second-degree.
He was also found guilty on two counts of criminal attempt to commit murder in the first-degree and two counts of criminal attempt to commit murder in the second-degree.
The convicted killer sat emotionless in court as the guilty verdict was read before he was placed in handcuffs and led out of the room. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Bartell’s family filled the courtroom and burst into tears and applause after the verdict was read.
The trial, which started on April 14, was extremely emotional, especially when Kwak revealed the vehicle they were in was racing down the road at 103pmh while they hurled the rock at the late teen.
‘This has been the hardest two years. And we got justice today. I don’t know how to feel about it. I’m happy, but it doesn’t bring Alexa back, and that’s horrible. But we don’t ever want this to happen again to anybody else,’ Kelly Bartell, the victim’s mother, said.
‘That has been our main goal to make sure that justice is served. It’s hard to be happy or feel satisfied that justice is served today because I feel one amazing life was lost, and three others are also lost and impacted. I don’t want to celebrate that, but I do think justice was served.’
That day, the three high school students were throwing gigantic rocks at passing cars in Jefferson County, when one was hurled through Bartell’s windshield, hitting her in the head and killing her.
Prosecutors say the men had thrown giant landscaping rocks and hit six other cars that night.
Bartell was on the phone with a friend when a rock smashed into her car and she went quiet. Her friend tracked her phone and drove to the location to find her dead in her car, which had plowed off the road into a field.
At the time, Koenig was on trial for first-degree murder as prosecutors claimed he was the one who ultimately threw the rock at her.
Meanwhile, the defense said Kwak was the one who threw it.
‘All three of the boys in that truck, including Joe Koenig, are guilty of causing Alexa Bartell’s death. We are not running from that. But the evidence will show that Alexa Bartell’s death, as tragic as it was, was not first-degree murder,’ defense attorney Thomas Ward said.
Kwak and Karol-Chik both took plea deals in exchange for lesser charges after agreeing to testify at Koenig’s trial.
Kwak pleaded guilty to first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and an added count of criminal attempt to commit assault. He will serve no less than 20 and no more than 32 years behind bars.
Karol-Chik pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit murder in the first-degree and crime of violence. He is set to serve a minimum of 35, but no more than 72 years in jail.
Just days before he was convicted, Koenig’s attorney claimed his undeveloped brain should less the punishment of his crime.
The defense called an expert testimony to argue that his then 18-year-old brain wasn’t developed enough to be considered an adult and that his charges should be dropped to manslaughter, The Denver Post said.
They brought on Temple University Psychology Professor Laurence Steinberg, who claimed Koenig’s brain would ‘not yet [have] a good braking system in place’ at the time of the crime.
‘Adolescence is a time when the accelerator in the brain is pushed down to the floor — that is the limbic system,’ he testified.
He said the young man would have been egged on by his friends which would have caused a heightened emotional sense that would compromise his decision-making skills, the outlet said.
Steinberg said that although an 18-year-old’s brain can operate like an adult, up to the age of 21, they can act immaturely when in heightened states and when they’re with their peers.
The psychologist also argued that young people are more impulsive and focused on short-term reward.
Bartell’s fatal incident was not the only time Koenig and his friends had thrown rocks at cars, The Post said.
On the night of the attack, Karol-Chik and Kwak were allegedly cheering Koenig on and encouraging each other to throw rocks.
The psychologist argued this would have compromised the then-teen’s decision-making.
A friend of the trio told police he’d watched them several hours earlier as they loaded a truck with landscaping rocks taken from a Walmart parking lot. The friend claimed the three boys picked up ‘as many as they could carry.’
He said he knew ‘something bad was going to happen’ so asked Koenig, Karol-Chik and Kwak to take him home.
The three alleged killers then patrolled roads in the area and searched for passing cars to target.
Kwak said they would use ‘marine terms’ when launching the rocks, adding: ‘Mitch would say things like, ‘contact left,’ before Joseph would throw the rock at a car on the left side of theirs.’
He said the rock which killed Bartell made a ‘very loud noise… like a rail gun’ when it struck her windshield. A bloodstained rock was discovered next to the young woman’s yellow Chevy Spark.
Koenig was described by a friend as someone who likes creating ‘chaos’ and would often act in a destructive manner.
‘Joseph and Mitch were talking about them now being ‘blood brothers’ and they could never speak of the incident,’ Kwak added.
The three reportedly met up the following day to ‘get their stories straight.’
Karol-Chik and Kwak were interviewed by detectives and each gave different accounts about who threw the rock. Koenig refused to speak to police.
Koenig’s sentencing hearing is set for June 3.