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

[Trudie]

I whole heartedly agree! If the benefits are the same with an adoptive mom (or even another amazing mom in the hospital that just gave birth - I know I would volunteer!) then I’m all for it! But that baby needs every single benefit she can get within the first very few moments that the NICU just doesn’t give

IMO, nothing good will come from JC, I think she’s done enough.

 

[Trudie]

• Stronger heart function, due to stabilization of the heart rate

• Improved breathing and respiratory function

• Better delivery of oxygen to vital organs

• Faster and more regular weight gain

• Decreased crying and better sleep

Thanks to JC these things will be accomplished mechanically, imo.

 

[Trudie]

Anyone know if this murdering duo made any plans as far as moving from th ‘hell hole on Dole’, since they were beyond their eviction date?
Or did they mutually agree it’d be best to murder AJ and get state housing?
In dox I see nothing to indicate they were in the process of packing.

 

[Breezie]

Dr. John Duffy on the Andrew ‘AJ’ Freund Case

Dr. John Duffy is an author, clinical psychologist, family and parenting expert, and father and husband. He joins the Bill and Wendy show to talk about the handling of the Andrew “AJ” Freund case

 

[Trish51]

For the health of the baby I sincerely hope not. It's is so unbelievably crucial how important kangaroo care/skin to skin is. Do I want JC to experience any sort of joy? Nope. Maybe they can sedate her so she never even knows she got to hold the baby. BUT for the babies sake (if she's healthy enough to have skin to skin) it's the absolute best thing for her and may send her home alive versus dead.


How Kangaroo Care helps mother and child
Research has demonstrated the benefits of Kangaroo Care. Per the Cleveland Children's Clinic in Ohio, "skin-to-skin holding stabilizes heart and respiratory rates, improves oxygen saturation rates, better regulates an infant's body temperature, and conserves a baby's calories."

This creates a number of benefits for the child, including but not limited to:

• Stronger heart function, due to stabilization of the heart rate
• Improved breathing and respiratory function
• Better delivery of oxygen to vital organs
• Faster and more regular weight gain
• Decreased crying and better sleep
• Faster hospital discharge

I don't think anyone is disputing the importance of skin-to-skin. There's well documented studies on it. This issue is the potential of the mother doing harm to the newborn. Weighing skin-to-skin versus mother hurting the baby, I'd would forgo the skin-to-skin. She's a mom with a long history of abuse to adults and children.

There are many instances where skin-to-skin is not an option whether it's due to the health of the baby or the mother. Skin-to-skin can be done by others. I can't bring up cases I've dealt with but I can bring up personal cases. My nephew was delivered via emergency C-section 6 weeks early due to complications. Once born it was evident there was a problem and he was air evaced to a children's hospital hours away. My neice did not get to hold him until a day or two later. Family members who were able to get there and my neice's husband all took turns with Skin-to-skin once my nephew was stable enough to be held. He has an extremely rare genetic disorder and spent quite a bit of time in the NICU. So, in their case, as well as in others, skin-to-skin was not an option

 

[nyvictoria]

Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin’s health care providers are required to report prenatal drug exposure. Reporting and testing can be evidence used in child welfare proceedings.

From your link.^^^
Remember AJ was removed for testing positive.

Yes child welfare agencies can remove the child but it’s apparently not a criminal offense. Tennessee is the only state in which it’s criminalized. However this article does state that prosecutors have attempted to prosecute mothers for endangerment or neglect in other states. There are no statistics given.
I think it’s great that babies can be removed from mothers who use drugs but I feel it should be a crime as well.
In looking for the above info, I saw an article from 1993 stating that Illinois was trying to criminalize drug use during pregnancy but it apparently wasn’t passed.

 

[nyvictoria]

Personally, I’d like to hear a statement from the Judge that ordered AJ returned to the ‘hell hole on Dole’.
Ultimately, it was his decision. No Judge has to follow recommendations. Did he even read the back story?

That judge is probably hiding in his or her chambers right now.

 

[Trish51]

My own opinion, I thing P was neglected and probably abused as well. In the documents from 2012, it appears that JC was having irrational thoughts. My guess is she was having hallucinations as well. I think that has continued or maybe started back up again. I wonder if she was having them the day AJ died. I keep going back to that line if thought but am unsure due to the drugs she was taking.

 

[Trudie]

My own opinion, I thing P was neglected and probably abused as well. In the documents from 2012, it appears that JC was having irrational thoughts. My guess is she was having hallucinations as well. I think that has continued or maybe started back up again. I wonder if she was having them the day AJ died. I keep going back to that line if thought but am unsure due to the drugs she was taking.

Msm said he was removed because of abuse or neglect.
The photo of him on JC’s lap made me cringe. He didn’t look too happy.

 

[Trudie]

That judge is probably hiding in his or her chambers right now.

We can only hope. Maybe he should transfer to traffic court?

My own opinion, I thing P was neglected and probably abused as well. In the documents from 2012, it appears that JC was having irrational thoughts. My guess is she was having hallucinations as well. I think that has continued or maybe started back up again. I wonder if she was having them the day AJ died. I keep going back to that line if thought but am unsure due to the drugs she was taking.

I’ll find msm. Hallucinations, cravings, aggression, I think she experienced all of it. Maybe sleep deprivation, nodding after her rush wore off, but waking with cravings.
The day she was arrested for traffic violation, she had $300 cash, wonder what goodies she was planning to buy?

 

[Trish51]

Msm said he was removed because of abuse or neglect.
The photo of him on JC’s lap made me cringe. He didn’t look too happy.

Ok. I haven't read all the articles in regard to this case. I got caught up in the horrors of the OIG.

None of them look happy.

 

[Trudie]

Ok. I haven't read all the articles in regard to this case. I got caught up in the horrors of the OIG.

None of them look happy.

Some msm state P had no visible signs of abuse. Yesterday I read a couple stating he was abused or neglected. Of course he would fall under the neglect category from the living conditions alone, imo. @Tippy Lynn will know where the article is, she knows everything!

 

[Trish51]

I do find it interesting that LE and DCFS are not in sync in regards to living conditions, not only in AJ's case but others from the OIG's report. I understand that people don't always agree on what is clean and acceptable, but it is a sign of neglect. I do think some training for DCFS case workers may be beneficial.

 

[Ev1214111]

Msm said he was removed because of abuse or neglect.
The photo of him on JC’s lap made me cringe. He didn’t look too happy.

Which photo are you referring to?

 

[Tippy Lynn]

Some msm state P had no visible signs of abuse. Yesterday I read a couple stating he was abused or neglected. Of course he would fall under the neglect category from the living conditions alone, imo. @Tippy Lynn will know where the article is, she knows everything!

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.

 

[osu]

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

 

[k8ling0087]

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

Omg. As drugged up as they were they better never plead that as a reason. They sound very competent and knew exactly what they were doing. They better hit them hard.

 

[sabepa]

I wanted to know.

Now I wish I didn't know..

 

[Mbee]

This woman is a child abuser and murderer. I believe this is her. Drugs or no drugs. I do not believe those children were safe even if she had gotten clean and stayed clean since one or another's birth. Drugs were a side effect or just another part of her disturbing personality. This woman was a sadistic child abuser. She should be punished as such. Drugs should play no part of her defense. It's a cop out. We've seen cases like this before. She's up there with the worst. That's my personal opinion.

 

[k8ling0087]

I don't think anyone is disputing the importance of skin-to-skin. There's well documented studies on it. This issue is the potential of the mother doing harm to the newborn. Weighing skin-to-skin versus mother hurting the baby, I'd would forgo the skin-to-skin. She's a mom with a long history of abuse to adults and children.

There are many instances where skin-to-skin is not an option whether it's due to the health of the baby or the mother. Skin-to-skin can be done by others. I can't bring up cases I've dealt with but I can bring up personal cases. My nephew was delivered via emergency C-section 6 weeks early due to complications. Once born it was evident there was a problem and he was air evaced to a children's hospital hours away. My neice did not get to hold him until a day or two later. Family members who were able to get there and my neice's husband all took turns with Skin-to-skin once my nephew was stable enough to be held. He has an extremely rare genetic disorder and spent quite a bit of time in the NICU. So, in their case, as well as in others, skin-to-skin was not an option

I see your perspective as well and respect your opinion. Let’s hope the medical staff and prison guards do what they do best for that baby, whatever it may be.