GOLDEN, Colo. (May 3, 2023) – District Attorney Alexis King announced today that Nicholas James Karol-Chik, Joseph Edwin Koenig, and Zachary Hiestand Kwak have been charged with crimes they are accused of committing on the night of April 19, 2023, in Jefferson County.
On Apr. 19, 2023, between the hours of approximately 10:00 pm and 10:45 pm, seven vehicles were hit by rocks in a northwest section of Jefferson County. Tragically, Alexa Bartell lost her life, and three others were injured.
Karol-Chik, Koenig, and Kwak face (13) charges:
COUNT 1: MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE – EXTREME INDIFFERENCE, C.R.S. 18-3-102(1)(d) [1]
COUNTS 2-7: CRIMINAL ATTEMPT TO COMMIT MURDER IN THE FIRST DEGREE, C.R.S. 18-3-102(1)(d);18-2-101
COUNTS 8-10: ASSAULT IN THE SECOND DEGREE, C.R.S. 18-3-203(1)(b)
COUNTS 11-13: CRIMINAL ATTEMPT TO COMMIT ASSAULT IN THE SECOND DEGREE, C.R.S. 18-3-203(1)(b);18-2-101
Statement from District Attorney Alexis King:
“We thank the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation and the community for their commitment to identifying the suspects. Based on the available facts and after careful legal analysis, we have filed charges and will now move forward with a criminal prosecution. It is important to remember that these individuals are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty. As in every case, our goal is to seek justice.”
Karol-Chik, Koenig, and Kwak are being held without bond. They will appear this afternoon at 1 pm for the return filing of charges.
The charges are merely legal allegations; these individuals are presumed innocent of the charges against them unless and until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
[1] Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18-3-102(1)(d): “Under circumstances evidencing an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life generally, he knowingly engages in conduct which creates a grave risk of death to a person, or persons, other than himself, and thereby causes the death of another.”