Four months before his parents allegedly beat him to death after forcing him to take a cold shower, AJ Freund told a doctor during an emergency room visit that “maybe someone hit me with a belt,” according to a new timeline released Friday detailing state child welfare investigators’ interactions with the 5-year-old boy’s parents.
“Maybe Mommy didn’t mean to hurt me,” AJ told the doctor on Dec. 18, after the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services received a hotline report alleging “environmental neglect” of the boy and his younger brother, as well as “cuts, welts and bruises” to AJ.
UPDATE: DCFS employee, supervisor removed from casework after boy found dead
Police who were called to their Crystal Lake home by his now-charged mother, JoAnn Cunningham, saw “a large bruise” on AJ’s hip that he later told officers he suffered when the family dog “pawed him,” according to the DCFS timeline.
Cunningham, who was arrested at the time for driving on a suspended license, took the boy to an immediate care center at the request of a DCFS investigator after she was bailed out by her husband, Andrew Freund Sr., the report says.
At first, AJ couldn’t tell the doctor what happened, before stating “maybe someone hit me with a belt. Maybe mommy didn’t mean to hurt me,” according to the state agency timeline.
The DCFS investigator told Freund Sr. to pick up AJ and his brother from the hospital “until the home environment can be assessed,” and asked him “to remain in the home as a safety precaution,” the report says.
The investigator made an unannounced home visit the next day, according to the timeline. It’s unclear if it’s the same investigator who had been in touch with the family Dec. 18.
“The living room and dining room were cluttered with clothes and toys,” the report says. “The kitchen was clean and the floor was missing tile. The ceiling was not falling and investigator sensed a slight odor of dog urine. No feces or urine was observed on the floor. The father denied any corporal punishment and he denied mother using drugs.”
The investigator went on to talk with another DCFS worker who had dealt with the family in the past, and within two weeks the abuse allegation was deemed unfounded “due to lack of evidence for cuts, welt and bruises allegation,” the agency said.
The parents reported AJ missing the morning of April 18, and the police search soon centered on their Crystal Lake home.
The boy’s body was found wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave Wednesday in a semi-rural area of suburban Woodstock, about 7 miles from his home, according to court records and police statements.
McHenry County prosecutors say the parents forced him to “to remain in a cold shower for an extended period of time” and “struck [Andrew] on or about his body” until he died on April 15. The coroner ruled he died of blunt force trauma to the skull.
Both parents were charged with murder in addition to charges of aggravated battery, domestic battery and failure to report a child’s death. They’re jailed on $5 million bail.
DCFS removed Andrew’s younger brother from the home while investigating allegations of neglect the same day Andrew was reported missing, the agency said.
The timeline released Wednesday outlines an extensive history of DCFS contact with the family.
After A.J. was born in October 2013, he tested positive for opiates and was taken into DCFS custody. He was then placed into foster care until June 2015, when a judge returned custody to his mother after she and A.J.’s father participated in parenting classes and drug treatment programs, according to the agency.
Nevertheless, DCFS continued to receive multiple allegations of neglect at the household. The 2018 ER visit was among two separate allegations that were ultimately deemed unfounded that year, the agency said.
Read the full DCFS timeline of the agency’s interactions with AJ Freund’s family:
THE FREUND INVESTIGATION:
• Parents get $5 million bail in AJ Freund murder case
• Parents charged with murder after Andrew ‘AJ’ Freund found dead
• State investigates handling of AJ Freund case after boy found dead
• Missing boy, 5, lived in Crystal Lake home full of dog feces, records show
• Family of missing Crystal Lake boy has lengthy history with DCFS: officials
• FBI searching for missing 5-year-old from Crystal Lake
