Cloquet Man Pleads Not Guilty to Manslaughter Charges

CLOQUET, Minn. – A Cloquet man charged with the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old last month in Brevator Township pleaded not guilty to second-degree manslaughter in court on Monday.

According to reports, Joseph James Fohrenkam, 18, allegedly shot and killed Joseph James Peterson, 16, on the night of December 28 while drinking in his truck with friends and “waving a pistol around and showing it off.”

Fohrenkam went on the run for nine days with his mother following the shooting and was located and arrested at an apartment complex on the White Earth Reservation, in Mahnomen County.

Fohrenkam is due back in court on March 4.