A Colorado teen has pleaded guilty for his role in a deadly rock-throwing spree with his pals that killed a 20-year-old woman in Denver last year. Zachary Kwak, 19, was one of three teens who threw landscaping rocks at several cars in April 2023 – with one rock smashing through the windshield window of a car being driven by Alexa Bartell.
He was previously charged with murder but pleaded guilty as part of a plea deal and will serve no less than 20 years but no more than 32 years. He will be sentenced on Sept. 3 Prosecutors say that Kwak, along Joseph Koenig and Nicholas 'Mitch' Karol-Chik, threw rocks at six cars and injured multiple drivers after 10 p.m. on April 19. They were all 18 at the time.
After noticing that they had struck Bartell's windshield, the three suspects turned back around and drove past the victim's vehicle, which had swerved into a field, at about 50 mph to observe the damage. Kwak is accused of taking a photo of her vehicle as a 'memento.' Koenig allegedly declared the group 'blood brothers' after realizing Bartell was dead, according to Karol-Chik's interview with authorities.
After investigators interviewed Kwak, he allegedly insisted that he did not throw the rock that killed Bartell. When the detective who testified Wednesday told Kwak, 'I hear you,' he responded: 'I don't need you to hear me. I need you to believe me. I did not throw that rock.' Bartell’s family was in the courtroom on Friday to hear Kwak make his guilty plea. They could be seen wiping tears from their faces during the 15-minute proceedings, FOX 31 reports.