The sentencing for two of the three suspects arrested and accused in last year’s rock-throwing death of Alexa Bartell has been scheduled for May 2025, about a year after they pleaded guilty in the case. Nicholas “Mitch” James Karol-Chik and Zachary Kwak reached plea agreements with the prosecution in Jefferson County in May. 

Twenty-year-old Bartell was struck and killed late at night on April 19, 2023, when she was struck by a rock that was thrown into her windshield. Several others were injured in similar incidents with what authorities described as “large landscaping rocks,” concrete, and in one case, a statue.      

Karol-Chik pleaded guilty on May 15 for his role in a series of rock-throwing attacks between Feb. 25, 2023, and April 19, 2023. In that agreement, the prosecution dismissed the original charges and added three new charges including second-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree, and crime of violence. 

According to the plea agreement, prosecutors said Karol-Chik would serve a minimum of 35 years and up to 72 years in the Department of Corrections. The judge said the deal did not allow for sentencing in the youth offender program. Prosecutors told the court that Bartell’s family did agree to the plea deal.   

Kwak pleaded guilty on May 10 to three new charges, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and criminal attempt to commit assault, in an agreement reached with the prosecution. As a result of that agreement, the prosecution dismissed the original 13 charges, including murder and attempted murder.    

According to prosecutors, the deals with Karol-Chik and Kwak are dependent on their full cooperation, including testimony against the third suspect, Joseph Koenig. Earlier this year, investigators revealed that they believe Koenig was the one who threw the fatal rock at Bartell’s car. 

The trial for Koenig has been rescheduled for April 11, 2025 through April 25, 2025. Koenig’s trial was initially scheduled for July and August but was rescheduled after a court-ordered evaluation. 

Sentencing for Karol-Chik and Kwak has been scheduled for after Koenig’s trial, May 1 and May 2, respectively. 

A rebound toward average temperatures Wednesday will occur around Colorado Springs.

“After yesterday’s cold front, we’re starting out our Wednesday cold and breezy,” Meteorologist Alan Rose with Gazette new partner KOAA said. “The wind will weaken during the morning hours, leaving us with light northerly breezes and cooler highs this afternoon.”

Daytime highs will only warm into the 30s, 40s and lower 50s across southern Colorado depending on where you live.

“Our high in Colorado Springs of 44 degrees on Wednesday will come up well short of our average high of 54 degrees,” Rose said.

High pressure will return late this week, boosting temperatures into the lower 60s in Colorado Springs and Pueblo on Thursday. Highs will cool slightly Friday, warming into the 50s on the Plains.

“A west Coast storm will send a cold front into Colorado on Saturday, with gusts to 25 mph on Pikes Peak, but no incoming rain or snow threatening plans this weekend,” Rose said.

Highs on Saturday will top out in the lower 50s, with upper 40s by Sunday in Colorado Springs.

“Early next week, we’re tracking another piece of energy from the west Coast storm,” he said. “The heaviest precipitation looks to stay mostly to our east, with smaller chances for rain and snow showers locally next Monday and Tuesday.”

DENVER — Three people were indicted on federal charges after they allegedly staged a hate crime hoax leading up to the 2023 Colorado Springs mayoral run-off election, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado announced Tuesday.

Derrick Bernard, Jr., 35, Ashely Blackcloud, 40, and Deanna West, 38, were each charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and using fire to intimidate, according to our sister station, KOAA News5, in Colorado Springs.

The indictment stems from the 2023 Colorado Springs mayoral run-off election between Yemi Mobolade, who is Black, and Wayne Williams, who is white. Mobolade would go on to win the election.

Mobolade and Williams were not named in the indictment or the announcement. Instead, Mobolade was identified as Candidate 1 while Williams was identified as Candidate 2.

Bernard, Blackcloud and West were affiliated with a group called Family Flavors the Slide, which “marketed itself as a minority-owned independent broadcasting and multi-media organization,” according to News5.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO), after the initial election but before the run-off, Bernard sent a message to Blackcloud and West that he was “mobilizing my squad in defense. Black ops style big brother.” He also referenced a desire to prevent “the klan” from gaining political control of Colorado Springs, according to the USAO.

In the early hours of April 23, 2023, the three allegedly staged a burning cross in front of a campaign sign for Mobolade, which had been defaced with a racial slur. The three then allegedly spread false information about the event to several news and civic organizations. News5 was one of the news organizations that obtained video of the burning.

According to News5’s Alasyn Zimmerman, the indictment states Bernard at one point messaged Mobolade on social media saying he was “mobilizing his squadron.”

“I know it’s crunch time sir but look . . . I spoke with some of my friends in other places and theirs [sic] a plot amidst . . . I’m mobilizing my squadron in defense and for the final push. Black ops style big brother. The klan cannot be allowed to run this city again.”

Zimmerman reports that the indictment does not say whether Mobolade responded to the message or if Family Flavors the Slide was affiliated with his campaign.

Blackcloud made her initial appearance in federal court in Denver on Tuesday. Bernard is in state custody and will appear in federal court after he is transferred to federal custody. The USAO said investigators are searching for West, who is considered a fugitive.

News5 reached out to Mobolade’s office for a comment and was told the mayor was out of town.