Parents get $5 million bail in AJ Freund murder case

JoAnn Cunningham and her husband Andrew Freund Sr. are charged with first-degree murder in 5-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund’s killing. | Crystal Lake Police Department

A Crystal Lake mother and father were ordered held on $5 million bail each on Thursday after they were charged with killing their 5-year-old son .

JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. appeared in court for a bail hearing at 8 a.m., according to the McHenry County sheriff’s office. They are each charged with five counts of first-degree murder for the death of Andrew “AJ” Freund

An autopsy for Andrew is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday, the McHenry County coroner’s office said.

Cunningham and Freund Sr. reported their son missing on the morning of April 18, claiming they’d last seen him while putting him to bed the night before, police said.

Local law enforcement agencies and the FBI spent the next week searching the area for Andrew until Freund provided information early Wednesday that led them to the boy’s body, which was wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave in nearby Woodstock, Crystal Lake Police Chief James Black said.

Andrew “AJ” Freund | National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Cunningham, 36, was also charged with four counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated domestic battery and one count of failure to report a missing child or child death.

Freund Sr., 60, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated domestic battery, two counts of concealment of a homicidal death and one count of failure to report a missing child or child death.

Records show the family has a lengthy history with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services after AJ was born with opiates in his system in 2013, but the boy was eventually returned and allowed to remain with the family despite allegations of neglect.

The family home on Dole Avenue was in poor condition, and the family lived without power at times. Police reports document it was full of dog feces, urine and trash and had many broken or open windows, even in the winter.