Jarquez Bedford, 28, charged in connection to Waite Park woman's death
WAITE PARK, Minn. -- A 28-year-old man has been charged in connection to a Waite Park woman's suspicious death.
Jarquez Javon Bedford was charged with murder in the second degree for the Feb. 6 death of 52-year-old Andrea Cottew.
Police found Cottew dead inside her home at 320 Park Meadows Drive while conducting a welfare check. In March, the medical examiner determined her death a homicide.
Surveillance video allegedly shows Cottew enter her apartment building and walk toward the interior door the first-floor hallway. Moments later, Bedford is seen knocking on the locked entry door. Cottew let him inside the building and talked briefly before walking together toward the door of the first-floor hallway, police say.
Within an hour, Bedford is seen on video leaving the apartment building through the back door with his sweatshirt turned inside out. Cottew is not seen on video again.
Security footage continues to capture Bedford coming and going from the building for hours, according to charges.
Police say records revealed that he repeatedly used Cottew's key fob to access the apartment building.
Speaking with residents at the apartment, investigators say they learned that Bedford had been staying with tenants of a third-floor apartment. They provided investigators with footage from surveillance video inside their apartment.
Police say Bedford changed his statement repeatedly regarding the incident when they questioned him.
A knife found at the scene had DNA on it that matched the victim and Bedford.
According to her autopsy, Cottew died from exsanguination due to multiple sharp force injuries to her neck.
Bedford is currently in custody in Ramsey County on unrelated charges, the Stearns County Attorney's Office says.
A court date has not been set yet for Bedford.
