MsFacetious
What a Kerfuffle...
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They will likely try to blame each other and take their chances at trial.
Found Deceased IL - Andrew Freund, 5, Crystal Lake, 17 April 2019 *Arrests* - #3
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They will likely try to blame each other and take their chances at trial.
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Aren't they twin sisters? That will be wild to see them turning on each other in court.
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Oops thanks for correcting. I meant AJ im so tired.
Children with disabilities can qualify for SSI by meeting the financial and medical qualifications. I have had many students who qualified and received monthly checks. They are reevaluated at 18.
Autism is just one that has this nice separate explanation sheet:
How a Child Can Qualify for Social Security Benefits with Autism - Autism Care Today
Thank you for posting these! : )
These pics just seem so odd to me. Like staged. She’s turning him to take shots from certain angles, but the lighting is so bad you can hardly see. Most of the pics are of his right side, which include what looks like a bruise behind his ear. Why no shot of his left side? Because when photos are staged, I think what are they NOT showing or avoiding. I’ve never seen a pic after a child’s haircut taken this way. Idk.
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You are so right!
I just spent time listening to the 12/29/18 police communications and there was absolutely nothing at all pertaining to the report written for the date and time of that report.
MsFacetious
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Aren't they twin sisters? That will be wild to see them turning on each other in court.
Not Duke, AJ. Joann and Andrew will likely blame each other. (Though, same thing applies to Jakee and Jennifer too.)
MsFacetious
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She cut it herself, so she was showing off her skills I presume. The bottom right picture is taken from the left side. But that's why I say there are likely many more that didn't make it on facebook.
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Oops, thanks. I have been following both of these tragic cases. and they melted together in my brain.
Both of these gorgeous boys should be colouring a Mother's Day card and have a loving mommy to give it to next week. I am so sick of these babies dying at the hands of their worthless caregivers.
It's interesting and possibly telling that the birth mother has 2 Class X Felony charges for "AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL", 1 on 03/04/2019, and one on 04/15/2019, while the father has the 1 also on 04/15/2019.
Initially, many were assuming the father was responsible for the blows to the head which killed AJ, however, given that the mother is being charged for acts she did on 03/04/2019 which may have disabled AJ, one would think that there is a higher probability that it was the mother who was responsible for the final blows to the head which killed AJ. The father does have the one 'AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL" charge on 04/15/2019, however, so either they have credible evidence that the father did do something alongside the mother on that day, or they are just putting forward as many charges as possible to cover multiple scenarios (as is evident by the 5 counts of Murder 1 charges for each bio parent). However, due to what happened on 03/04/2019, I'm starting to lean in the direction that it was the mother who did the majority of the abuse towards AJ, especially when you look further back in the mother's past and see that she was charged with "DOMESTIC BTRY/PHYSICAL CONTACT" on 01/18/2013 against Andrew Sr.. Note that this was just around the time she may have found out she was pregnant with AJ (birthdate was 10/2013). Additional evidence that the bio mother may have been the primary abuser towards AJ is the ER doctor comments regarding AJ mentioning to him/her that his mother may have hit him with a belt which produced the large bruise in 12/2018 that she was blaming on the dog.
More evidence that the bio mother was violent and unstable potentially more so than the father comes from the custody battle documents between the grandmother and Cunningham. In it, we see documented instances in which she "punched", "pulled a knife on", and "assaulted" Andrew Freund, with his response seemingly being to "push" and "push down the stairs" during these incidents. Also, it was documented that the bio mother told her oldest son she would "commit suicide" if he didn't return home from the grandmother's house (prior to her winning custody of the oldest), while also locking the oldest in her bedroom for periods of time telling him to stay inside her "safe room" otherwise the "neighbors would kill them". Other than a mention of Andrew Sr. walking around the house in a military uniform with a gun, the focus seems to be on the mother. Interesting to note that there is no mention of documented physical violence towards the oldest son in these 2013 custody battle documents, from neither Cunningham or Andrew Sr (and you know it would have been mentioned by the grandma/oldest son here as they were throwing everything they could at the court to get the boy out of that house). So, the physical violence looks to have started with AJ.
I think it's important to note that the initial release of the Criminal Complaint for Joann Cunningham on April 25, 2019, showed 3 counts of Aggravated Battery/Aggravated Domestic Battery, with those same charges being listed for the March 4, 2019 date, too. I remember as I had made a specific comment around the 25th on this board about how Andrew Sr. had the "AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL" charges on 04/25/2019 but Joann Cunningham did not. However, now 2 of those Aggravated Battery/Aggravated Domestic Battery charges, 1 on 03/04/2019 and 1 on 04/25/2019, show as "AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL" for Cunningham. I'm not sure when this was changed/updated, but it's possible that additional information was discovered after the initial Criminal Complaint was filed on 04/25/2019, whether it be through the autopsy, forensic analysis from cell phone data, etc, that led the DA to believe that these more serious Class X Felony charges (compared to the Class 2, 3, and 4 Assault Charges) were now valid against the bio mom.
It doesn't not seem like the youngest son was physically abused by Cunningham or Andrew Sr, at least based on what we know. It was reported that when the youngest was taken into custody last week that there was no trauma or signs of past trauma on him.
I also found what looks like the grandmother tried to get custody of the current dog (or past dog of Cunningham's) sometime in 2013, and tried to do so through 2016 (Case number 13FA000008 - search for it directly using the link below).
My takeaway is that the mother has had mental illness and addiction and been violent towards other adults for some time (dating back to at least 2012-2013 during the custody battle with her mother for her oldest son), and that the violence towards children started with AJ when he returned home from his foster parent around the age of 2. There is past publicly available evidence that she was physically violent towards AJ, but none that I can see from Andrew Sr (that's not to say that he didn't play a role in abusing AJ, there's just nothing documented that I can see showing this up until the charges against him on 04/25/2019). Given that it's likely that she didn't physically abuse her oldest son, my guess is that she was extremely angry about losing custody of her oldest to her mother, and then losing AJ temporarily for the first few years and having to jump through a number of hoops in order to get him back, coupled with the likelihood that the grandmother also fought for custody of AJ or at least reported the bio mother on numerous occasions to police and/or CPS over the past 3 years, and what looks like the grandmother attempted to get custody of Cunningham's dog, too, the rage against her mother (the grandmother) may have played a role in her physically hurting AJ as she may have felt like she was getting back at her mother by hurting AJ. Physically hurting AJ and knowing she could play the system and get away with it while knowing her mother knew what was going on which was likely causing her great emotional pain may have been very relieving to Cunningham, making her feel quite powerful. I've seen instances in custody battles where birth mothers will take out their anger against the birth father by harming the child (mentally, physically, emotionally, etc.), knowing that DCFS does little about it even if bruises or signs of trauma are evident, so Cunningham harming AJ out of spite for her mother isn't something that would surprise me. Drugs likely have a lot to do with this, too, especially if she has moved on to more hardcore drugs over the years since 2012-2013, but the rage toward the grandmother likely made it much worse given that there are many addicted people who have not and will not physically abuse their children.
All MOO based on watching and reading about this case every day now since it started. I live within a few miles of AJ's home and have been there on a number of occasions to pay my respects and pray for him. I went to and sat in at the Crystal Lake Press Conference at City Hall last week and I also searched for AJ's body prior to him being found (on my own, not a part of any coordinated or official search effort) and have visited the Woodstock location where he was found a few times now. I was severely shook up (and still am) by what happened years ago at the Sandy Hook school shooting where all of those sweet children were murdered, however, this has impacted me in a more visceral way, as seems to be the case for possibly everyone here. There's something about a birth parent abusing their child for years and then killing them which shakes me to my core. It's a statement about the potentially extremely ugly and evil aspect of human nature that I cannot come to terms with. Factor in what looks like a complete failure of the organizations which are put in place as a last line of defense for children (DCFS) and I'm up at night now worrying about all of the children who have no one to protect them from abuse and neglect. I'm researching potential ways to help do something about this whether it be to become a DCFS case worker or join a group like CASA - haven't come to a decision yet on this, yet. I urge anyone and everyone to also research what you can do to help these defenseless and abused children. An easy place to start is by donating to what looks to be the official fund associated with AJ's burial and younger brother (see link below).
Links:
Initially, many were assuming the father was responsible for the blows to the head which killed AJ, however, given that the mother is being charged for acts she did on 03/04/2019 which may have disabled AJ, one would think that there is a higher probability that it was the mother who was responsible for the final blows to the head which killed AJ. The father does have the one 'AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL" charge on 04/15/2019, however, so either they have credible evidence that the father did do something alongside the mother on that day, or they are just putting forward as many charges as possible to cover multiple scenarios (as is evident by the 5 counts of Murder 1 charges for each bio parent). However, due to what happened on 03/04/2019, I'm starting to lean in the direction that it was the mother who did the majority of the abuse towards AJ, especially when you look further back in the mother's past and see that she was charged with "DOMESTIC BTRY/PHYSICAL CONTACT" on 01/18/2013 against Andrew Sr.. Note that this was just around the time she may have found out she was pregnant with AJ (birthdate was 10/2013). Additional evidence that the bio mother may have been the primary abuser towards AJ is the ER doctor comments regarding AJ mentioning to him/her that his mother may have hit him with a belt which produced the large bruise in 12/2018 that she was blaming on the dog.
More evidence that the bio mother was violent and unstable potentially more so than the father comes from the custody battle documents between the grandmother and Cunningham. In it, we see documented instances in which she "punched", "pulled a knife on", and "assaulted" Andrew Freund, with his response seemingly being to "push" and "push down the stairs" during these incidents. Also, it was documented that the bio mother told her oldest son she would "commit suicide" if he didn't return home from the grandmother's house (prior to her winning custody of the oldest), while also locking the oldest in her bedroom for periods of time telling him to stay inside her "safe room" otherwise the "neighbors would kill them". Other than a mention of Andrew Sr. walking around the house in a military uniform with a gun, the focus seems to be on the mother. Interesting to note that there is no mention of documented physical violence towards the oldest son in these 2013 custody battle documents, from neither Cunningham or Andrew Sr (and you know it would have been mentioned by the grandma/oldest son here as they were throwing everything they could at the court to get the boy out of that house). So, the physical violence looks to have started with AJ.
I think it's important to note that the initial release of the Criminal Complaint for Joann Cunningham on April 25, 2019, showed 3 counts of Aggravated Battery/Aggravated Domestic Battery, with those same charges being listed for the March 4, 2019 date, too. I remember as I had made a specific comment around the 25th on this board about how Andrew Sr. had the "AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL" charges on 04/25/2019 but Joann Cunningham did not. However, now 2 of those Aggravated Battery/Aggravated Domestic Battery charges, 1 on 03/04/2019 and 1 on 04/25/2019, show as "AGG BTRY/CHILD <13/PERM DISABL" for Cunningham. I'm not sure when this was changed/updated, but it's possible that additional information was discovered after the initial Criminal Complaint was filed on 04/25/2019, whether it be through the autopsy, forensic analysis from cell phone data, etc, that led the DA to believe that these more serious Class X Felony charges (compared to the Class 2, 3, and 4 Assault Charges) were now valid against the bio mom.
It doesn't not seem like the youngest son was physically abused by Cunningham or Andrew Sr, at least based on what we know. It was reported that when the youngest was taken into custody last week that there was no trauma or signs of past trauma on him.
I also found what looks like the grandmother tried to get custody of the current dog (or past dog of Cunningham's) sometime in 2013, and tried to do so through 2016 (Case number 13FA000008 - search for it directly using the link below).
My takeaway is that the mother has had mental illness and addiction and been violent towards other adults for some time (dating back to at least 2012-2013 during the custody battle with her mother for her oldest son), and that the violence towards children started with AJ when he returned home from his foster parent around the age of 2. There is past publicly available evidence that she was physically violent towards AJ, but none that I can see from Andrew Sr (that's not to say that he didn't play a role in abusing AJ, there's just nothing documented that I can see showing this up until the charges against him on 04/25/2019). Given that it's likely that she didn't physically abuse her oldest son, my guess is that she was extremely angry about losing custody of her oldest to her mother, and then losing AJ temporarily for the first few years and having to jump through a number of hoops in order to get him back, coupled with the likelihood that the grandmother also fought for custody of AJ or at least reported the bio mother on numerous occasions to police and/or CPS over the past 3 years, and what looks like the grandmother attempted to get custody of Cunningham's dog, too, the rage against her mother (the grandmother) may have played a role in her physically hurting AJ as she may have felt like she was getting back at her mother by hurting AJ. Physically hurting AJ and knowing she could play the system and get away with it while knowing her mother knew what was going on which was likely causing her great emotional pain may have been very relieving to Cunningham, making her feel quite powerful. I've seen instances in custody battles where birth mothers will take out their anger against the birth father by harming the child (mentally, physically, emotionally, etc.), knowing that DCFS does little about it even if bruises or signs of trauma are evident, so Cunningham harming AJ out of spite for her mother isn't something that would surprise me. Drugs likely have a lot to do with this, too, especially if she has moved on to more hardcore drugs over the years since 2012-2013, but the rage toward the grandmother likely made it much worse given that there are many addicted people who have not and will not physically abuse their children.
All MOO based on watching and reading about this case every day now since it started. I live within a few miles of AJ's home and have been there on a number of occasions to pay my respects and pray for him. I went to and sat in at the Crystal Lake Press Conference at City Hall last week and I also searched for AJ's body prior to him being found (on my own, not a part of any coordinated or official search effort) and have visited the Woodstock location where he was found a few times now. I was severely shook up (and still am) by what happened years ago at the Sandy Hook school shooting where all of those sweet children were murdered, however, this has impacted me in a more visceral way, as seems to be the case for possibly everyone here. There's something about a birth parent abusing their child for years and then killing them which shakes me to my core. It's a statement about the potentially extremely ugly and evil aspect of human nature that I cannot come to terms with. Factor in what looks like a complete failure of the organizations which are put in place as a last line of defense for children (DCFS) and I'm up at night now worrying about all of the children who have no one to protect them from abuse and neglect. I'm researching potential ways to help do something about this whether it be to become a DCFS case worker or join a group like CASA - haven't come to a decision yet on this, yet. I urge anyone and everyone to also research what you can do to help these defenseless and abused children. An easy place to start is by donating to what looks to be the official fund associated with AJ's burial and younger brother (see link below).
Links:
- See current charges and past charges for both Cunningham, Joann D and Freund, Andrew T on the McHenry County Public Case Access site: Public Case Access - McHenry County
- Custody battle document with documented abuses by the bio mother between mother of Cunningham and Cunningham for the oldest son: Documents: 2013 complaint against parents of missing Crystal Lake boy | Northwest Herald
- Go Fund Me for AJ's burial and his younger brother (verified to be legitimate): https://www.********.com/d62g4d-rest-in-peace-aj
MsFacetious
What a Kerfuffle...
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I did the same thing late last night. I'm following 4 little boys cases right now. *sigh*
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Ok, so I listened to the 12/18/18 police communications and have the make of the phone that she claims was stolen in an alleged burglary along with the names of the 2 prescription pill bottles that she claims were stolen from the home.
Can I name these items here?
Can I name these items here?
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I wonder if she was taking suboxin and Adderal at that time? I believe she was pregnant already.
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Am wondering how things are going to play out. Will she plead guilty to avoid a trial? Will he tell the truth to save himself?
MsFacetious
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She may not have known she was pregnant at the time. I hope they switched her to methadone when she found out.
I wonder who's Adderral? Obviously the assumption would be that it was AJ's. But there are adults with ADHD as well....
I wonder if the boyfriend stole them... and that is what precipitated and subsequently led to, his arrest the next day?
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Yes, those photos were posted on JC’s Facebook on March 11th of this year.
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That was a live Facebook video posted by JC on April 13, 2019.
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