Woman killed by large rock thrown at car, authorities say

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KKTV/Gray News) - A young woman is dead, and an investigation is underway in Colorado following an overnight crime spree.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for information in connection to the death of 20-year-old Alexa Bartell from Arvada.

Investigators said they believe that while Bartell was driving, someone threw a large rock at her vehicle that struck and killed her.

Investigators said they believe she was driving northbound on Indiana Street on Wednesday when she was killed just before 11 p.m. The area is northwest of Denver near Standley Lake.

“In the moments before she was killed, Alexa was on her phone talking to a friend when the phone went silent,” stated a news release from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

Bartell’s friend tracked her phone to a location off the roadway in a field, where she found Bartell fatally wounded inside her car.

Investigators have reason to believe Bartell’s death is tied to a crime spree involving a light-colored pickup truck. The truck was located and the owner was identified later in the day on Thursday, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office provided a timeline of other rock-throwing incidents around the same time that resulted in two minor injuries and damage to four vehicles.

Anyone with information that could help is asked to call 303-271-5612.

“No piece of information is insignificant. If you have home security or dash cameras that may have caught the vehicle driving by, we want to hear from you,” the release added.

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