Troubled family history of slain Illinois boy reveals missed warning signs, failed chances to intervene
CHICAGO - Days before Christmas, a McHenry County doctor asked 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund how he got a large bruise on his right hip.
The boy and his mother had suggested the family dog, a 60-pound boxer named Lucy, caused the injury when the pooch jumped on him. The doctor, suspicious of the explanation but unable to pinpoint a cause after examining the child, took AJ aside and asked him what had happened.
"Maybe someone hit me with a belt," the child said, according to newly released records. "Maybe Mommy didn't mean to hurt me."
Despite the boy's alarming words, state child welfare officials investigating the Dec. 18, 2018, hotline complaint from police about the bruise determined there wasn't credible evidence to support taking AJ into protective custody. Nine months earlier, a similar hotline complaint about the boy's bruising also was deemed unfounded.
Tragically, the Crystal Lake boy was fatally beaten April 15 - three days before his father called 911 to report him missing, sparking an exhaustive search effort that ended with the discovery of the child's body in a shallow grave about seven miles from his home.
As JoAnn Cunningham, 36, and Andrew Freund, 60, face murder charges in the death of their son, a Chicago Tribune review of the family's troubled history as told through court records, police reports and state child welfare documents reveals a series of missed opportunities for authorities to have intervened.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, which on Friday revealed new details about the case, has limited legal authority to remove a child from a parent's
