Freeman pleads “not guilty” to murder charge in January shooting in La Crosse

A murder suspect brought back to La Crosse from Tennessee last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday to killing a La Crosse man.

Karvel Freeman has been bound over for trial, for 1st degree murder and reckless endangerment.

Police say Freeman and a second man, identified as Nelson Brown, allegedly fired around 50 gunshots in a stairwell at a Rose Street building in January. Ernest Knox was killed by one shot to the chest.

The shooting reportedly happened a short time after Freeman became angry over an incident at a party.

Investigator Andrew Tolvstad testified that Freeman reportedly knocked a wine box to the floor during a party in an apartment, and became angry when somebody told him to pick it up. Knox reportedly tried to calm Freeman down.

Freeman was arrested in Tennessee last month. Brown has not been arrested yet.

Judge Elliott Levine in court Tuesday turned down a defense request to reduce Freeman’s bond, which is set at $500,000 cash. Freeman’s attorney offered to have his client stay at his mother-in-law’s house in Milwaukee, while the case is in court.