Found Deceased IL - Andrew Freund, 5, Crystal Lake, 17 April 2019 *Arrests* - #4

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@osu

I can deal with a lot of crazy stuff, and have witnessed people dying more times than I can count as a nurse. That report got to me.
Part of it is because of his age and the other part is all the times a judge and/or DCFS could have stopped this before it got to this point and they failed to.

A 5 year old that wets his pants is punished? Not even sure where to start with that one. Each and every one of the people that could have stopped this needs to either be out of a job or not dealing with cases involving vulnerable people ever.

Something or some law has to be changed to prevent this. I'm now thinking about all the kids like Andrew who are abused regularly and DCFS either doesn't know about it or is not doing anything about it once they know.
 
My heart just breaks. JC beat him severely in March and per AJsr statement, beatings were a frequent punishment. He never had time to recover from one beating before the next.

I just wish someone could have held and comforted him.

She will never pass the competency test. It requires understanding the charges and being able to participate in her defense and more. When she made the statement in court, she didn't know if she had a lawyer, I knew what she was planning.

JC is planning on using the system to secure a nice cosy spot in a mental hospital. Lots of activities, outings, and group therapy.

AJsr will go to prison and they don't like child murders, so I hear.
 
osu said:
WARNING! GRAPHIC DETAILS

Report details abuse, parents’ disposal of body of 5-year-old son after his death
4:40pm

Note to readers: This story contains graphic details about allegations of child abuse and murder.

WOODSTOCK – AJ Freund’s father led investigators to the spot where he allegedly buried the 5-year-old boy’s body after storing him for days in a plastic tote in the family’s basement, McHenry County court records show.

Previously sealed search warrants filed in McHenry County court reveal details about the investigation into AJ’s disappearance and the cell phone records that eventually prompted the boy’s father, Andrew Freund Sr., to confess his role in the child’s death and burial.

An affidavit written by McHenry County Sheriff’s Det. Edwin Maldonado describes a pattern of physical abuse against AJ, including a two-minute cellphone video from March that showed the boy lying naked on a bare mattress, covered in bruises and bandages, Maldonado wrote.

On the morning of April 24, Freund led police to an area near ComEd transmission towers off Dean Street, near Woodstock, the affidavit shows. It was there that Freund, 60, buried AJ’s body in a shallow grave and covered it with straw, Maldonado wrote. Freund also told investigators how he and AJ’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, forced the child to take a cold shower on the evening of April 14 as a punishment for lying about soiling his underwear, Maldonado wrote.

“Drew explained that he wanted JoAnn to stop with the hard physical beatings and do some less violent form of punishment,” Maldonado wrote. “Drew said cold showers was decided.”

According to Freund, AJ was forced to stay in the shower about 20 minutes before his parents put him to bed “cold, wet and naked.” The father went on to say that sometime later, Cunningham discovered her son unresponsive in bed. An examination of Freund’s cell phone revealed an internet search for “child CPR” at 3:17 a.m. on April 15, Maldonado wrote.

Later that morning, Freund told police he put AJ’s body in a large plastic tote in the basement of the family’s home at 94 Dole Ave. in Crystal Lake, Maldonado wrote. Freund said it was two days later, on the night of April 17, that he put the boy’s body into garbage bags, then put the body in the trunk of his car, and drove the body to the burial site, Maldonado wrote.

Cunningham and Freund each face multiple charges including first-degree murder in connection with AJ’s death. They are being held at the McHenry County jail with bond of $5 million apiece, and are barred from contact with one another.

Cell-phone information keyed confession

Freund confessed to FBI Special Agent Carrie Landau and Crystal Lake Det. David Eitel around 2:40 a.m. on April 24, nine days after AJ is believed to have died, and six days after Freund reported him missing on April 18. An autopsy conducted April 25 determined that AJ died of brain trauma as the result of multiple blunt-force injuries to his head.

Police received warrants to search both Freund’s and Cunningham’s phones, along with a phone belonging to a close friend of Cunningham, to find information that led to the confession.

In addition to the early morning search for “child CPR” on April 15, investigators found a picture of a shopping list taken to the Crystal Lake Jewel-Osco store around 9 p.m. on April 17, which contained items including duct tape, plastic gloves, air freshener and bleach, according to the affidavit. Freund told police he purchased the bleach for cleaning, and the tape to hang photos. Freund said the family usually would go through a gallon of bleach each week.

Freund called police on April 18 to report AJ missing. The 60-year-old attorney told police he had a doctor appointment at 6:30 a.m. that morning in Elgin, and had been careful to collect proof.

“Two FBI agents followed up at the doctor’s office to confirm Drew had been there. Once there, they spoke with [an employee] who confirmed Drew has been there,” Maldonado wrote. “[The employee] said when she checked Drew out and asked if he would like a receipt, Drew accepted and commented to her something to the effect of, ‘The lawyer in me thinks I need a paper trail.’ “

Freund showed Crystal Lake police his appointment card, and suggested the officers make a copy of it and put it in the case file, Maldonado wrote.

“… It struck [Eitel] as suspicious in light of the additional information learned,” Maldonado wrote.

Cunningham’s phone contained a previously deleted March 4 video of AJ lying naked in a crib, with bandages around his wrists and hips and an ice pack over his eyes. The boy’s chest, neck and eyes were badly bruised, Maldonado wrote.

“In the video a female with a voice consistent with JoAnn’s is holding the phone and videotaping,” Maldonado wrote. “She is berating AJ for urinating his bed.”

It did not appear AJ had received professional medical care, according to the affidavit.

When FBI and Crystal Lake investigators confronted Freund with the video on April 24, he confessed that he believed AJ died April 15, according to the affidavit. Freund allegedly told police that Cunningham caused AJ’s injuries as seen in the video.

Phone records also revealed at least 88 deleted contacts between Cunningham and her friend between April 11 and 15. In a message from April 16, Cunningham complained to her friend that AJ was misbehaving, Maldonado wrote. Freund told police that Cunningham believed AJ had a disorder that made him defiant of authority, and so had to punish the boy, including with beatings or by locking him in his room for hours at a time.

Child removed from ‘hoarder-like’ home

On April 19, investigators interviewed AJ’s younger brother at the McHenry County Child Advocacy center, Maldonado’s affidavit shows. The 4-year-old boy told interviewers his parents had told him not to talk about AJ, and said that his mother told him AJ had “fallen down the stairs and has a lot of owies,” Maldonado wrote.

The younger boy is in the care of the Illinois Department of Family and Child Services, and prosecutors have petitioned to terminate both Cunningham’s and Freund’s parental rights. The agency is involved in an ongoing investigation into claims of abuse and neglect inside the home.

DCFS had contact with AJ on and off since he was born in 2013 with opiates in his system, placing him in foster care for more than a year after he was born. Cellphone records obtained during the investigation into the boy’s death provided video-recorded evidence that AJ had sustained injuries in the past.

As police continued to search Freund and Cunningham’s home, the family appeared to be living in what Maldonado described as “hoarder like conditions.”

The basement area, in particular, was filled with “numerous garbage bags stacked upon each other,” the warrant stated.

Police also noted household debris piled up throughout the home as well as outside against the attached garage, which was filled from floor to ceiling with garbage and debris, Maldonado wrote.

It wasn’t officers’ first time at the home.

Police had numerous contacts at the Dole Avenue house, a majority of which were in reference to well-being checks or domestic violence situations, Maldonado wrote. Both Freund and Cunningham were also known of to have abused narcotics in the past.

While Freund’s phone was being analyzed, officers searched inside the home, where they located a pair of red and black men’s size 11 Nike gym shoes that were “dripping wet with mud,” police wrote. The shoes were sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia to be examined.

As the search inside the home continued, police located in the dining room a white garbage bag containing wet clothes that smelled heavily of bleach, police wrote. Officers located a total of four empty bleach bottles that had been thrown in garbage bins, Maldonado wrote.


Report details 5-year-old's death, abuse and how Andrew Freund led police to spot he buried son | Northwest Herald
Click to expand...

This keeps getting worse........:(

I added more information from this article to the timeline.
This explains JC’s (count 10-12) battery charges.

March 4, 2019 - Monday
  • An affidavit written by McHenry County Sheriff’s Det. Edwin Maldonado describes a pattern of physical abuse against AJ, including a two-minute cellphone video from March that showed the boy lying naked on a bare mattress, covered in bruises and bandages, Maldonado wrote.
  • JC Aggravated Battery incident occurred (counts 10-12, charged on date of arrest 4/24)
  • JC’s phone contained a previously deleted March 4 video of AJ lying naked in a crib, with bandages around his wrists and hips and an ice pack over his eyes. AJ’s chest, neck and eyes were badly bruised,
  • “In the video a female with a voice consistent with JC’s is holding the phone and videotaping and berating AJ for urinating his bed
  • It did not appear AJ had received professional medical care, according to the affidavit.
  • AF allegedly told police that JC caused AJ’s injuries as seen in the video.
April 4, 2019 - Thursday
  • Neighbors said the family was supposed to be out of the home by April 4
April 11 -15, 2019
  • Phone records also revealed at least 88 deleted contacts between JC and her friend between April 11 and 15.
April 13, 2019 - Saturday
  • JC and AJ’s younger brother on FB live at motel swimming
April 14, 2019 - Sunday
  • AJ was forced by AF and JC to take a cold shower for 20 minutes before they put him to bed cold, wet and naked
April 15, 2019 - Monday
  • JC complained to her friend by text that AJ was misbehaving.
  • JC discovered AJ unresponsive in bed
  • An internet search on AF’s cell phone for “child CPR” at 3:17 a.m
  • AF put AJ’s body in a large plastic tote in the basement of the family’s home
April 17, 2019 - Wednesday
  • In the evening, AF put the AJ’s body into garbage bags, then put the body in the trunk of his car, and drove the body to the burial site
  • AF claimed they last saw AJ in bed at 9:30 pm
April 18, 2019 - Thursday
  • AF went to doctor appointment and returned home @ 8:30am
  • AF’s Dr appt was confirmed by FBI. The clinic employee said when she checked AF out and asked if he would like a receipt, he accepted and commented to her something to the effect of, ‘The lawyer in me thinks I need a paper trail.’
  • AJ reported missing by 911 call made by AF
  • JC’s attorney said JC had been questioned by police on Thursday
  • JC was arrested at the LCPD on an arrest warrant for failure to appear on driving with a suspended DL. JC was released after paying the required $300 bond
April 19, 2019 - Friday
  • Late Friday afternoon, a team of police in about seven vehicles pulled up to the house and went inside with a search warrant
  • Illinois Department of Children and Family Services said it has had contact with the family of the boy, AJ since he was born in 2013 with opiates in his system. DCFS continued having contact off and on until late 2018
  • A younger son was placed into DCFS custody
  • Police said, “In reviewing all investigative information thus far, there is no indication that would lead police to believe that an abduction had taken place.” They also said: “Information obtained currently has police focusing on the residence”
  • Canine teams that were used during the investigation “only picked up AJ’s scent within the residence indicating that Andrew had not walked away on foot”
  • Investigators interviewed AJ’s younger brother at the McHenry County Child Advocacy center, Maldonado’s affidavit shows. The 4-year-old boy told interviewers his parents had told him not to talk about AJ, and said that his mother told him AJ had “fallen down the stairs and has a lot of owies,”
  • While AF’s phone was being analyzed, officers searched inside the home, where they located a pair of red and black men’s size 11 Nike gym shoes that were “dripping wet with mud,” police wrote. The shoes were sent to FBI headquarters in Quantico, Virginia to be examined.
  • As the search inside the home continued, police located in the dining room a white garbage bag containing wet clothes that smelled heavily of bleach, police wrote. Officers located a total of four empty bleach bottles that had been thrown in garbage bins, Maldonado wrote.
April 23, 2019 - Tuesday
  • JC - Court 8:30am driving with a suspended DL
  • Shelter Hearing for AJ’s younger brother
April 24, 2019 - Wednesday
  • Information was obtained from forensic analysis of cell phone data. Once presented with the evidence obtained by investigators, both JC and AF provided information that ultimately led to recovery," said Crystal Lake Police Chief JB
  • Overnight police and FBI interviewed both JC and AF after information was obtained through a forensic analysis of cell phone data. Once presented with the information, the parents provided information about the location of the boy's body
  • AF confessed to FBI Special Agent Carrie Landau and Crystal Lake Det. David Eitel around 2:40 a.m., nine days after AJ is believed to have died, and six days after AF reported him missing
 
Simply Southern said:
My heart just breaks. JC beat him severely in March and per AJsr statement, beatings were a frequent punishment. He never had time to recover from one beating before the next.

I just wish someone could have held and comforted him.

She will never pass the competency test. It requires understanding the charges and being able to participate in her defense and more. When she made the statement in court, she didn't know if she had a lawyer, I knew what she was planning.

JC is planning on using the system to secure a nice cosy spot in a mental hospital. Lots of activities, outings, and group therapy.

AJsr will go to prison and they don't like child murders, so I hear.
Click to expand...

The saying, “an eye for an eye” fits perfectly.
 
Tippy Lynn said:
I’m sorry. Don’t recall the specific article you are referring to.

We know AJ, his older brother and his youngest brother were all neglected and emotionally abused. We also know both AJ and his older brother were physically abused. I find it hard to believe the youngest wasn’t physically abused as well. Maybe not to the same extent as the others were, but I would bet my last dollar he was physically abused. IMHO they were all abused and neglected.
Click to expand...

It’s okay! Some articles state P shows no sign of abuse, idk where that comes from. Tysm
 
The fact she filmed the beatings and/or the results of the abuse, to me is a key sign she is extremely diviant and sadistic. (obviously child abuse alone is enough)

We haven't heard she shared them, why would you and who would recieve them willingly? So these were for what purpose? Her own personal viewing after the fact. That is a very disturbing trait in a criminal. Above and beyond a "normal" child abuse situation.

All my personal speculation and opinion.
 
Mbee said:
The fact she filmed the beatings and/or the results of the abuse, to me is a key sign she is extremely diviant and sadistic. (obviously child abuse alone is enough)

We haven't heard she shared them, why would you and who would recieve them willingly? So these were for what purpose? Her own personal viewing after the fact. That is a very disturbing trait in a criminal. Above and beyond a "normal" child abuse situation.

All my personal speculation and opinion.
Click to expand...


Its like she is bragging about what she can so to this poor, sweet child.
 
This case is beyond anything I could ever imagine.

How can this happen in the USA? This isn’t a third world country. How.....just how in the hell does this happen?

This is not acceptable and we need to demand changes. Enough is enough!!

Poor little AJ, I’m so sorry you suffered and nobody saved you:(:(
 
I just cannot understand how you can hate your own child (or any child) enough to be so cruel to them.

Praying for all the professionals involved in this case who either tried to get help for the child and failed, or is part of the investigation and prosecution of these animals. I cannot imagine the horror when that deleted video popped up on an investigator's screen. Ugh.

Drugs didn't cause this. Drugs were her veil to prevent facing what she was doing to her own child. I hope she is forever haunted by her actions.
 
Trudie said:
@osu do you recall date haircut photo was posted?
The blatant head injuries in the photos prob from the March 4 beating.
Who in the eff keeps a 5yo in a crib?

And, the friend the female murderer texted, do we know who he/she is? Tysm
Click to expand...

I can’t recall the date. I’ll go grab it. BRB.
 
Simply Southern said:
My heart just breaks. JC beat him severely in March and per AJsr statement, beatings were a frequent punishment. He never had time to recover from one beating before the next.

I just wish someone could have held and comforted him.

She will never pass the competency test. It requires understanding the charges and being able to participate in her defense and more. When she made the statement in court, she didn't know if she had a lawyer, I knew what she was planning.

JC is planning on using the system to secure a nice cosy spot in a mental hospital. Lots of activities, outings, and group therapy.

AJsr will go to prison and they don't like child murders, so I hear.
Click to expand...

Now I think anyone not seeing AJ’s distorted head shape might see things differently.
The autopsy report will be absolutely horrible.
Death must have been relief for him. Had he not been murdered, how long was this going to continue? Until he was big enough to fight back?
 
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