5-year-old A.J. Freund's mother claims she didn't murder him, says she would rather 'kill herself than hurt her family'
An Illinois mother who has been charged with the murder of her 5-year-old son has claimed her innocence from jail. In an interview with CBS, JoAnn Cunningham, 36, who allegedly murdered her son Andrew A.J. Freund has said that she would never hurt her family. '"I would rather kill myself than hurt my family,” Cunningham said crying, "I’d rather kill myself than hurt anybody."
The child's body was found buried in a field in Crystal Lake, Illinois, near his parent's home wrapped in plastic. JoAnn and her boyfriend and the boy's father, 60 had pretended for three days that he had gone missing until the body had been found. Both have pleaded not guilty to the murder charges but have not yet said how the child died. According to the McHenry County Coroner, the child cause of death is blunt force trauma to the brain.
The couple had initially told the police that they had put him to bed on April 17 and had found him missing the next day. However, court documents say he was killed on April 15. Police had also found a shovel and a mattress in their home that was taken in as evidence. She had also taken drugs when she was pregnant with the child and he had been born with opiates in his system in 2013. A.J. had been placed in foster care for 18 months by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services following which he was returned to the parents. The couple's other child, who is three was put into foster care after his brother had gone missing.
When asked if she had murdered the child, she said, "No. I would never hurt my children." She also implied that it could be the father. "If it’s Drew, then he needs to grow some balls and he needs to tell them so everyone isn’t suffering. You know, I’m scared," she said.
It was discovered that family services had visited the family 17 times through A.J.'s life and police reports have noted that they lived in filth with dog urine and feces in their home. They also once lived without power for seven months, the report said. He was also allegedly made to take cold showers for misbehaving. In a video, the mother is allegedly seen beating the child as he lay in bed holding an ice pack on his face. He had wet the bed.
Both parents have been drug addicts and the mother has been found mentally fit. Their trial is set to begin later this year.