Man found guilty of murdering Waite Park woman in 2023 sentenced to life in prison

By KSTP

Jarquez Javon Bedford (Stearns County Jail)

A man was sentenced to life in prison Friday, after being found guilty of the 2023 murder of a Waite Park woman.

Jarquez Javon Bedford, 30, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Bedford was convicted on Jan. 30 on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder for the killing of 52-year-old Andrea Cottew.

As previously reported, Cottew was found dead in the living room of her unit at Park Meadows Apartments back on Feb. 6, 2023. She had cuts on her neck, and police found a bloody kitchen knife in her bedroom.

Surveillance footage showed Cottew letting Bedford into the building the afternoon of Feb. 5 and walking him to her apartment. Afterward, Bedford was seen coming and going from the building and using her key fob. Cottew, however, did not reappear after letting Bedford into her unit.

Investigators found DNA that matched with Bedford throughout Cottew’s apartment, including on the knife handle.

Cottew will serve his sentence at the St. Cloud Correctional Facility.