JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — Zachary Kwak, Nicholas Karol-Chik and Joseph Koenig are all being tried separately for the series of rock throwing-incidents that damaged cars, injured drivers and killed one woman back in 2023.
A rock hit and killed 20-year-old Alexa Bartell while she was driving last April. All three are now facing murder charges in connection to her death.
The three suspects were at a joint hearing Tuesday morning. The prosecution alleges the men were behind several different cases of rocks being thrown at cars. In court, attorneys said Karol-Chik allegedly made the statement that the group had, "done this 10 other times."
The judge eventually decided that statement could not be used as evidence in any of the three cases.
The rest of the afternoon focused on Koenig's preliminary hearing.
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Koenig's defense team attempted to get any evidence collected during and after his arrest to be thrown out. They claimed the arrest itself wasn't lawful since it happened at the front door of his home without a search or arrest warrant.
A judge disagreed and also decided there is enough evidence to add additional charges to attempted assault and attempted murder with extreme indifference from drivers who reported having rocks thrown at them in the same area before the incident that killed Bartell.
Koenig's trial date is set for July 19. Karol-Chik's trial is set for June 7 and Kwak's trial is scheduled for June 24.
