Fosston Murder Suspect Released

CROOKSTON, MN—Here’s an update to a story R&J News has been following. The man arrested for a fatal shooting in Fosston earlier this week has been released from custody while investigators await a final autopsy report.

22-year-old Cory Burnette Jr. of Fosston was arrested Monday after 31-year-old TeeJay Alvarez of Fosston was shot inside an apartment on the 300 block of Mark Avenue. Alvarez died Tuesday from his injuries.

The Polk County Attorney’s Office said Wednesday that a decision on charges can’t be made until the full investigation–including the final autopsy report–is complete. In a statement, the Polk County Attorney’s Office said “Agencies must act on charging and holding an individual based upon the constraints of the law…and since the investigation is not yet complete, Cory Burnette Jr. was released as required by those constraints.”

Burnette Jr. had been in custody at the Northwest Regional Correctional Center in Crookston on probable cause for second degree assault and discharge of a firearm.