A mural of George Floyd is shown in the intersection of 38th St & Chicago Ave on March 31, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Community members continue preparations during the third day in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is charged with multiple counts of murder in the death of George Floyd. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 01: President Donald Trump's lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani talks to journalists outside the White House West Wing July 01, 2020 in Washington, DC. Giuliani did an on-camera interview with One America News Network's Chanel Rion before talking to other journalists about Vice President Joe Biden and the news that Russian intelligence may have paid Taliban operatives to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Vigils & tributes to George Floyd one year since his murder ORLANDO, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 28: Former President Donald Trump addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference held in the Hyatt Regency on February 28, 2021 in Orlando, Florida. Begun in 1974, CPAC brings together conservative organizations, activists, and world leaders to discuss issues important to them. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Here's what reported grand jury in Trump case may look like NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: People walk past the Trump Tower as the impeachment trial of Donald Trump begins in Washington on February 09, 2021 in New York City. After listening to nearly four hours of legal arguments, the Senate has voted on Tuesday to move ahead with the impeachment trial of former President Trump. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Report: US companies may have benefited from forced labor of Uyghurs WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 20: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the conflict in the Middle East from Cross- Hall of the White House on May 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Israel and Hamas announced that they would agree to a cease-fire, which will take into effect on Friday, following days of fighting that claimed more than 200 lives. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) SAN JOSE, CA - MAY 26: A view of the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) light-rail yard where a mass shooting occurred on May 26, 2021 in San Jose, California. A VTA employee opened fire at the yard, with preliminary reports indicating nine people dead including the gunman. (Photo by Philip Pacheco/Getty Images) A healthcare worker prepares to administer a Pfizer/BioNTEch coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine at The Michener Institute, in Toronto, Ontario on December 14, 2020. - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, had 1,940 new cases and 23 deaths on Monday. The province is expected to give its next doses to nursing home workers as a priority, according to media reports. (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by CARLOS OSORIO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) 'Never seen levels like this': Union president on airline passenger misconduct Memorial Day weekend will bring rain and cool air for much of the East (CNN) — In his five short years, Andrew “AJ” Freund endured more trauma than any child should. A home that reeked of feces and urine. Frequent visits from police officers and child welfare workers. A family life so unstable that he bounced from one caretaker to another. Now the boy is dead, found wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave. His parents are charged with murder and are accused of striking AJ. A pathologist found he died from head trauma caused by blunt force injuries, according to a coroner’s report. And those who knew about the family’s troubles are left wondering whether they could have done anything differently to help prevent AJ’s death. Crystal Lake Police Dept Andrew "AJ" Freund was 5 years old. Soon after AJ was born, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services got involved, spokesman Jassen Strokosch said. A lifetime of problems The baby “was brought into care with us” when “neglect was indicated on part of the mom,” Strokosch said. So from 2013 to 2015, AJ was “in care with someone else,” Strokosch said. But the boy eventually returned home to his parents. Last year, child welfare services were called twice to the family home: once for allegations of neglect in March, and once for allegations of abuse and neglect in December. The allegations were determined to be unfounded in both cases, Strokosch said. Now the Department of Children and Family Services will review its work with AJ’s family to see if there were any shortcomings, acting Director Marc Smith said. If there are, the agency will tell the public what steps it will take to fix them, Smith said. Crystal Lake Police Dept. JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr. are charged in the death of their son, AJ. AJ’s younger sibling was in the home until this week, but is now living with another family, Strokosch said. “Protecting vulnerable children who come to our attention is at the core of our mission at DCFS,” Smith said. “All of us feel this loss. Our priority is the care and safety of Andrew’s younger sibling.” Police found ghastly conditions in the home Child welfare services weren’t the only ones streaming in and out of AJ’s life. Crystal Lake police officers visited, too. Last year, a neighbor in the Chicago suburb called police to check on the children because the home had been without power for weeks, according to a police report. At the time, an officer wrote that two children appeared “healthy and happy.” And child welfare services said the lack of electricity did not warrant their investigation. But months later, authorities were called to the family’s home again. This time, they saw more signs of neglect. One officer found dog feces and urine scattered in the home in December, according to a police report. During that visit, the officer reported a suspicious bruise on one of the children. But a welfare worker couldn’t determine whether it was the result of abuse, the report said. Someone at the house said it may have been caused by a dog. Police described broken windows and a strong smell of feces in the area where AJ and his younger brother slept. One officer contacted Crystal Lake Building and Zoning to inspect the home. “Upon arrival B&Z was denied entry into the residence,” the officer wrote. What happened in AJ’s final days The explanations by AJ’s parents and police couldn’t be more different. Crystal Lake police said AJ’s parents, JoAnn Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr., forced their son “to remain in a cold shower for an extended period of time and/or struck” AJ, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday. But the boy’s father told a 911 dispatcher that he put AJ to bed the night of April 17 and could not find him the next morning. “I got back from the doctor’s appointment and I checked in on him to say good morning and he wasn’t there,” Freund told 911. Cunningham’s attorney, George Kililis, told CNN affiliate WLS last weekend that the mother didn’t know what happened to AJ “and had nothing to do with his disappearance.” Sonar teams scoured Crystal Lake, but found nothing. Canine teams “only picked up Andrew’s ‘scent’ within the residence, indicating that Andrew had not walked away on foot,” police said. A week after AJ disappeared, he was found dead about 10 miles away in the city of Woodstock. The boy’s body was wrapped in plastic and hidden in a shallow grave. The discovery came after investigators analyzed the forensics of the parents’ cell phone data. Police then interviewed both parents, who eventually provided information that led to AJ’s body, officers said. Both Cunningham and Freund face charges of first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated domestic battery and failure to report a missing child or child death, Crystal Lake Police Chief Jim Black said. Freund, the father, also faces a charge of concealment of homicidal death, police said. It’s not immediately clear whether Freund has retained an attorney. Bail was set Thursday at $5 million for each parent. ’We … are happy you no longer have to suffer’ Scott Olson/Getty Images Angela Krambeer and her son Dylan visit a memorial outside AJ's home. In the close-knit city of Crystal Lake, devastated neighbors hugged and wept as news of AJ’s death spread. Flowers and stuffed animals piled up outside the boy’s home. “Just a little, sweet 5-year-old boy,” neighbor Janelle Butler told CNN affiliate WLS. “Oh my gosh, who could do that? I can’t believe that I knew them and talked to them and they were capable of doing that. Right across your street.” Butler remembered the last time she saw AJ. “He was at the door with his brother fighting over who was going to get in the door first,” she said. Black, the city’s police chief, spoke openly to AJ and said there’s some consolation that mourners can take comfort in: “We know you are at peace playing in heaven’s playground, and are happy you no longer have to suffer.” CNN’s Brad Parks, Ray Sanchez, Eric Levenson, Deanna Hackney and Sheena Jones contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Each defendant was brought in separately for a hearing. They both wore orange pants, a shirt and shoes issued by the jail. Cunningham was visibly pregnant at seven months. She shook her head from side to side and appeared to be holding back tears as the charges were read, then wiped her eyes. Freund stood with his hands clasped behind or in front of him during the hearing but showed no emotion.<doc-sep>
Police believe they have found the body of missing 5-year-old Andrew "AJ" Freund, one week after he vanished from his Crystal Lake, Illinois, home, police said Wednesday. After police presented AJ's mother and father with cell phone evidence, the parents gave information that led investigators to a body believed to be that of the little boy, Crystal Lake Police Chief Jim Black said at a news conference on Wednesday. The body was buried in a shallow grave, wrapped in plastic, in a rural area near Woodstock, Illinois, Black said. Both parents, Andrew Freund Sr. and JoAnn Cunningham, are being charged with his disappearance and death, Black said. Charges against them include five counts each of first-degree murder, Black said. Speaking directly to AJ, Black said, "We know you're at peace, playing in heaven's playground." His cause of death is not clear, Black said. AJ was reported missing by his mother on April 18, according to her attorney, George Kililis. Crystal Lake police said on Monday that AJ's mother was being "uncooperative" with investigators. However, Kililis told "Good Morning America" over the weekend that when Cunningham reported AJ missing, she spoke with multiple officers and "was fully cooperating." Kililis said he got the impression that police considered Cunningham a suspect, so he told her to remain silent. "She has nothing to do with his disappearance," Kililis said over the weekend. "She's nothing more than a grieving mother." As police spent the week scouring the area, they said there was no indication the boy was abducted. Canine teams only picked up the boy's scent within his home, which police said indicated he didn't walk away on foot. Crystal Lake is about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. During the search, AJ's younger brother was placed in a different home under a Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) safety plan, a DCFS spokesman told ABC News earlier this week. DCFS has been in contact with AJ's family since he was born with opiates in his system in October 2013, DCFS said. AJ was taken into protective custody and placed in foster care in November 2013, DCFS said. He was returned to his home in June 2015, according to the agency. In March 2018, DCFS officials investigated allegations of neglect by AJ's parents; the allegations were unfounded, according to DCFS. The last contact between DCFS and the family was in December 2018, after Cunningham called the cops to report that AJ's father stole her cellphone and medication. Responding police found dog feces and urine in the family's home. Officers also found a bruise on one of the children, but were "unable to make a determination of abuse," and released the kids back to the parents, according to police reports. Child protection staffers investigated the allegations of abuse and neglect, but the allegations were unfounded, a DCFS spokesman said. The news of AJ's death is "heartbreaking," Marc Smith, acting director of Illinois DCFS, said in a statement Wednesday. "Our priority is the care and safety of Andrew's younger sibling," Smith said. "We will continue to cooperate with law enforcement in their ongoing investigation. The Department is committed to conducting a comprehensive review of the entirety of our work with Andrew's family to understand our shortcomings and to be fully transparent with the public on any steps we are taking to address the issues." ABC News' Whitney Lloyd and Henderson Hewes contributed to this report.