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Homicide defendant released on $10,000 bail in Wisconsin

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LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — A man charged in a fatal shooting in Wisconsin has been released on $10,000 bail that was initially set at $500,000.

Karvel Freeman, 35, of Madison, was released from the jail in La Crosse County where he’s charged with party to first-degree homicide and party to second-degree recklessly endangering safety.

Freeman and Nelson Brown, 25, of Rockford, Illinois are accused in the Jan. 8 shooting death of 36-year-old Ernest Knox during a party at a La Crosse apartment.

Freeman was arrested in March in Murfreesboro, Tennessee and his initial bail was set at $500,000 at his first court appearance in La Crosse County.

“The defendant is facing life in prison and has a strong incentive to flee,” La Crosse County Assistant District Attorney Nick Passe said in arguing for the $500,000 bond during the initial hearing. Passe described Freeman as a danger to the community, the La Crosse Tribune reported.

Freeman’s bond was reduced to $200,000 at a hearing in June.

La Crosse County Judge Court Judge Elliott Levine lowered Freeman’s bond to $10,000 last week and he was released from jail Friday. Freeman is under house arrest with GPS monitoring and has been ordered not to leave Wisconsin.

Brown remains at large.