Slain boy hinted at abuse

The adorable 5-year-old allegedly beaten to death by his parents had suggested he was abused, but child welfare officials left him in the home they had visited repeatedly.

Just months before Andrew Freund’s parents were charged with his murder, the Illinois boy suggested to an emergency room doctor he might have been hit by his mother, according to a summary of Department of Children and Family Services records released Friday.

In December 2018, Andrew (photo below), who was also called AJ, told investigators a bruise on his hip came from the family dog — but he offered a different explanation when he sat down with an emergency room physician later the same day.

“Maybe someone hit me with a belt,” he said. “Maybe Mommy didn’t mean to hurt me.”

The doctor was unable to determine the cause of the 5-year-old’s injury, but said it could have resulted from several things including a “dog, belt or football,” according to a summary of the children’s service records.

More than four months later, AJ’s body was found wrapped in plastic in a shallow grave. On Wednesday, AJ’s parents (top photos), Joann Cunningham, 36, and Andrew Freund Sr., 60, were arrested and charged with firstdegree murder.

The couple first reported AJ missing April 18. In a 911 call, Freund told the dispatcher he put AJ to bed the night before and woke up to find he was gone. “I got back from the doctor’s appointment and I checked in on him to say good morning but he wasn’t there,” he said during the phone call.

But police alleged Cunningham and Freund forced their son “to remain in a cold shower for an extended period of time and/or struck” AJ, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CNN. A pathologist has ruled the boy died from head trauma due to blunt-force injuries.

Family Services, in a summary of its reports and records, accounted for several encounters it had with the family, including a history of child welfare hotline calls.