Tag: fresh start

GOLDEN, Colo. (Jun. 3, 2025) – Mckinley Slone Hernandez was sentenced to 18 years in the Department of Corrections (DOC) for the injuries sustained by a two-year-old boy while in her care. In April, following a seven-day trial, a Jefferson County jury found Hernandez guilty of one count of Child Abuse - Recklessly Causing Serious Bodily Injury. As a result of the conviction, Hernandez faced a prison sentence ranging from 10 to 32 years.

GOLDEN, Colo. (Jun. 3, 2025) – Joseph Edwin Koenig was sentenced to life in prison plus sixty years this morning for the murder of Alexa Bartell and the series of rock throwing attacks between Feb. 25, 2023, and Apr. 19, 2023. On April 25, 2025, Koenig was convicted by a Jefferson County jury on all 19 counts, including Extreme Indifference Murder in the First Degree, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

GOLDEN, Colo. (May 5, 2025) – Brenda Renee Hamilton has been sentenced to 3 years of probation for the crimes she committed between July 2019 and November 2023, while Hamilton served as Town Clerk for the Town of Lakeside. Hamilton previously pleaded guilty and agreed to pay $26,088.00 in restitution to the Town. As a result of her plea, she faced up to three years in prison.

GOLDEN, Colo. (May 2, 2025) – Zachary Hiestand Kwak was sentenced to 32 years in the Department of Corrections for his role in a series of rock-throwing attacks on the night of April 19, 2023. Kwak previously pleaded guilty to three charges and agreed to testify in the trial against his co-defendant, Joseph Koenig. As a result of his plea, he faced a minimum of 20 years and up to 32 years in prison.

GOLDEN, Colo. (May 1, 2025) – Nicholas James Karol-Chik was sentenced to 45 years in the Department of Corrections for his role in a series of rock-throwing attacks between February 25, 2023, and April 19, 2023. Karol-Chik previously pleaded guilty to two substantive charges and a sentence enhancer and agreed to testify in the trial against his co-defendant, Joseph Koenig. As a result of his plea, he faced a minimum of 35 years and up to 72 years in prison, upon satisfying its terms.

GOLDEN, Colo. (March 12, 2025) – District Attorney Alexis King is pleased to announce the launch of a new Proof of Insurance (POI) program which allows individuals who have been charged with driving without insurance to submit a copy of their insurance directly to the District Attorney’s Office through a dedicated online portal. This initiative aims to streamline the process for individuals charged with no proof of insurance, allowing community members to resolve their summons without the need to appear in court, and promoting safer, insured driving while improving the efficiency of our court system.

GOLDEN, Colo. (Feb. 5, 2025) – A Jefferson County jury has found Jeremy Smith not guilty in the shooting death of Adam Fresquez at the Edgewater Public Market in May 2023. After six days of trial, the jury began deliberating just after 3 pm on Tuesday.

GOLDEN, Colo. (Feb. 3, 2025) – Imagine Kay Ewer was sentenced on Friday to four years in prison, followed by ten years to life on Sex Offender Intensive Supervision Probation, for sexually assaulting a Brady Exploration School student. Ewer worked as a paraprofessional in the special needs classrooms and was the assigned para for the sixteen-year-old victim. In November, Ewer pled guilty to two charges, and the parties agreed to a stipulated four years in prison and an indeterminate probation sentence of at least 10 years, up to lifetime probation.

GOLDEN, Colo. (Jan. 22, 2025) – District Attorney Alexis King announced today that Yvonne “Missy” Woods has been charged with 102 counts related to 58 instances of alleged criminal misconduct committed between 2008 and 2023, during her career as a Forensic Laboratory Scientist at the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Woods was employed by CBI from January 1994 to November 2023, during which she worked at two laboratory locations in Jefferson County within the First Judicial District.