Authorities announced on Wednesday that three high school seniors have been apprehended following allegations of hurling a landscaping rock at a woman in Colorado, resulting in her tragic death as she drove just outside Denver.

According to investigators from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Alexa Bartell, a 20-year-old, lost her life when a rock was thrown through her windshield while she was driving north in the 10600 block of Indiana Street in Westminster. The incident occurred at approximately 10:45 p.m. on April 19.

Officials revealed that Bartell’s vehicle was one among several targeted in a series of incidents involving large landscaping rocks, NBC News reported.

The spree began shortly after 10 p.m. near 100th Avenue and Simms Street, with multiple cars being struck by these projectiles.

According to the sheriff’s statement, Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik, Joseph Koenig, and Zachary Kwak, all 18 years old, were apprehended at their residences in Arvada.

The spokesperson for the sheriff confirmed that all three suspects are 12th-grade students attending Jefferson County Public Schools.

One of the suspects is a student at Ralston Valley High School, another attends Standley Lake High School, and the third is enrolled in an online program.

Unfortunately, a representative from the school district could not be reached for immediate comment on Wednesday.

Authorities clarified that it was the rock thrown by the suspects that caused the fatality of Bartell, and not any subsequent collision.

Written by staff