Woman killed by rock that was thrown at her car

A 20-year-old Colorado woman, Alexa Bartell, tragically lost her life on Wednesday night after an assailant hurled a rock at her vehicle in Jefferson County. Local law enforcement is currently investigating the young woman’s death and a string of related incidents that occurred on the same night.

At around 10:45 p.m., it is believed that suspects, either in a vehicle or stationed along the roadside, threw a large rock at Bartell’s car. The rock penetrated the windshield and fatally struck her. At the time, Bartell was on the phone with a friend, who later located her by tracking the phone’s signal. The friend discovered Bartell’s car off the road and in a field, with the young woman fatally injured inside.

Bartell was a resident of Arvada, Colorado, approximately 70 miles from Jefferson County. Authorities have noted multiple similar incidents that took place late Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday morning. Fortunately, none of the other attacks resulted in fatalities.

The first of these incidents occurred at 10:04 p.m. in Westminster, where a rock was thrown through a vehicle’s windshield, though the driver escaped injury.

Two more incidents took place about 30 minutes later in Boulder County, near the Rock Creek neighborhood. In the first event, at 10:36 p.m., a rock shattered another windshield, causing minor injuries to the driver. Just a minute later, at 10:37 p.m., a rock was hurled at a Toyota vehicle, damaging its body but leaving the driver unharmed. The fatal incident involving Bartell happened approximately eight minutes after these events.

The final reported incident occurred over an hour and a half later in Arvada, where another rock was thrown through a vehicle’s windshield, resulting in minor injuries for the driver.

Authorities have described the potential suspect vehicle as a light-colored pickup truck or SUV. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is collaborating with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office, Arvada Police, and Westminster Police to conduct a thorough investigation.