5-Year-Old A.J. Freund Died of Blows to the Head After Alleged Beating by Parents: Autopsy
The 5-year-old Illinois boy whose parents allegedly murdered him after beating him and forcing him to stand in a cold shower “for an extended” amount of time died of multiple blunt force injuries to the head, recently released autopsy results show.
On Thursday, McHenry County Interim Coroner David Devane identified the body that was found buried in a shallow grave and wrapped in plastic in Woodstock on Wednesday as Andrew “A.J.” Freund from Crystal Lake, local ABC affiliate WLS, the Chicago Sun Times and other outlets report.
Devane listed the child’s cause of death as “craniocerebral trauma as a consequence of multiple blunt force injuries,” WLS reports.
RELATED: Illinois Boy, 5, Was Allegedly Forced Into Cold Shower and Then Beaten by Parents Before Death
On April 15, the boy’s parents, Andrew Freund Sr., 60, and JoAnn Cunningham, 35, allegedly forced A.J. “to remain in a cold shower for an extended period of time and/or struck [him] on or about his body, knowing such acts would cause the death of [him],” prosecutors said in a criminal complaint filed Thursday in McHenry County Circuit Court, which was obtained by PEOPLE.
On Wednesday, the Crystal Lake Police Department and the FBI announced that they had found the remains of the child after he had been reported missing by his father the previous Thursday.
JoAnn Cunningham, 35, and Andrew Freund, Sr., 60
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Police arrested Cunningham and Freund on Wednesday after showing them “forensic analysis of cell phone data,” which allegedly led the pair to divulge “information that ultimately led to the recovery” of A.J.’s body, Crystal Lake Police Chief James Black said at a press conference Wednesday.
Both face a slew of charges including first-degree murder, aggravated battery and failure to report the death of a child, according to the criminal complaint.
They are being held on a $5 million bond and will be arraigned Monday.
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Their attorneys did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
“A.J. is no longer suffering and his killers have been brought to justice,” Black said at the press conference.
JoAnn Cunningham, 35
CRYSTAL LAKE POLICE DEPARTMENT
The child’s alleged mistreatment began before birth, say officials. After he was born, he was taken away from his family by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services because he was born with opiates in his system, the department said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
The boy was returned to his family when he was 18 months old.
DCFS visited the family’s home 17 times over the years, WLS, the Sun-Times, the Tribune, and other outlets report.
RELATED: Parents Accused of Murdering Missing Ill. Boy, 5, Whose Body Was Found Wrapped in Plastic
Officials had found the home severely dilapidated, with broken windows and, at times, no electricity for weeks, the Sun-Times reports.
The room where A.J. and his sibling slept smelled like feces and urine, the Sun-Times reports.
