A time of hope. A violent death.
The untold story of AJ Freund’s tragically short life
On the night of Oct. 14, 2013, Andrew Freund Jr. came into the world through emergency cesarean section. He weighed just 5 pounds, 7 ounces. The nurses took note of what they described as fresh track marks on the body of his mother, JoAnn Cunningham of Crystal Lake. And from his first breaths, AJ was struggling. Hospital records detail “tremors, sneezing, excessive crying, sleep disturbance, and an overactive startle reflex.”
The symptoms were obvious signs of withdrawal, and an analysis of AJ’s umbilical cord blood revealed a derivative of heroin, according to confidential records reviewed by the Tribune. Doctors at what was then called Centegra Hospital-Woodstock gave the baby boy morphine to alleviate his symptoms.
Cunningham’s mother, Lori Hughes, came to the hospital to hold her newborn grandson for the first time. Hughes took a nurse aside and shared her concerns about her unwed daughter and the boy’s father, Andrew Freund.
“I said you can’t let them take him home,” said Hughes, who had taken Cunningham’s older son into her home the previous year. “They can’t take care of a baby.”
Records show Cunningham, then 30 years old, admitted to medical staff that she had taken three medications for anxiety and pain relief that day. She also acknowledged that she used heroin at the beginning of her
38-week pregnancy but said she stopped after learning she was expecting a baby. She was on Subutex to help control her cravings, records show.
When Cunningham underwent testing at the hospital, the results turned up positive for opioids, among other substances.
On Oct. 16, two days after AJ’s birth, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services launched an investigation.
AJ remained hospitalized and, as the weeks passed, grew stronger. He finally was discharged from the hospital Nov. 12, nearly
a month after his birth.
He didn’t go home with his parents. DCFS placed him in temporary protective custody because of their drug use — Freund had also tested positive for opioids, records show — and one of Cunningham’s cousins stepped in as AJ’s foster mother.
A Dec. 3 medical screening showed AJ’s progress by 6 weeks of age. Though he still had tremor-related issues at times, the baby was described as healthy and developing normally.
Child welfare officials were impressed with his foster mother, who called AJ “an easy baby,” according to records. She kept him at her bedside in a bassinet those first several weeks until he was old enough to sleep in a crib in his own room.
“Andrew seems to be forming a secure attachment to his foster mother,” one record said. “He was observed alert in his foster mother’s arms and staring at her intently. When he became agitated, he was easily calmed by being held by his caregiver.”
The foster mom had a “strong desire” to adopt the boy, the report said, but she understood the court’s goal was to reunite AJ with his parents if they could provide a safe, loving home.
In those early weeks, it did not appear promising.
Three days after AJ was born, police records show, a heating contractor who had been in the parents’ house flagged down a police officer and showed him photos he snapped of black mold, garbage and animal excrement inside, with several inches of standing water in the basement.
A heroin overdose put Cunningham back in the hospital about five weeks after she delivered AJ, records show. Freund, who had struggled with alcohol, cocaine and painkiller addictions, also later admitted that he was using drugs in the weeks following his son’s birth.
A caseworker from a private agency that DCFS had hired to oversee AJ’s foster care wrote in December 2013 that neither parent initially attempted to see their baby while he was living with his foster mother.
“Visits are currently scheduled for every Sunday at Andrew’s biological parents’ home with a case aide but no one was home when they arrived for the first visit and Ms. Cunningham and Mr. Freund have not confirmed subsequent visits,” the caseworker reported.
Cunningham and Freund began trying to get AJ back in early 2014.
That January, they sat down in their two-story home on Dole Avenue with the caseworker and opened up about their struggles.
Though she had a history of erratic behavior and addictions to prescription pain pills and heroin, Cunningham said she did not have mental health issues that would affect her ability to take care of AJ. She asked to talk to a therapist about issues in her life, including the fact that her mother won custody of her 13-year-old son just seven days after AJ was born.
“JoAnn reports that she is able to love and provide for her children,” caseworker Jamie Mowers, of Youth Service Bureau of Illinois Valley, wrote of that Jan. 14 meeting. “She is aware of her disease and is engaging in services to help her obtain sobriety. JoAnn expresses that she loves the presence of children and knows that she is able to raise her children in a safe home.”
Cunningham and Freund agreed to drug treatment, counseling, random drug testing, parenting classes and other conditions imposed by the judge in AJ’s juvenile child abuse and neglect case.
To get AJ back, the parents said, they would do “whatever it takes.”
Seeking a second chance
Presiding over AJ’s case, McHenry County Judge Maureen McIntyre made it clear that Cunningham and Freund had a lot of work to do if they were to realize their goal of parental custody.
Though the juvenile court case file is not open for public inspection, the Tribune was able to review many of the records.
Initially, the judge let AJ’s parents see him once a week under supervision. Photos on their Facebook pages captured some of those early visits, with a smiling Cunningham holding her baby boy. Their caseworker described the parents as “loving and appropriate,” records show.
Federal and state legal guidelines on abuse and neglect cases favor giving parents a second chance if they prove they can provide a safe home. The court’s goal was for AJ to go home with Cunningham and Freund within a year.
By February, both of AJ’s parents completed an intensive outpatient drug treatment program through Rosecrance in McHenry County and continued getting support through individual and group counseling. They relied on Suboxone as part of a medically managed program to stave off cravings, according to records.
A few issues came up in spring of 2014. Though Cunningham appeared to be making strides with her sobriety, according to records, Freund had missed some aftercare meetings by that April and his caseworker flagged one of his drug screens, though the reason is unclear from available records.
Police also were in the Crystal Lake home three times that May for problems the couple said they were having with a man and woman they met in group therapy who were renting space in their basement.
No charges resulted. And the woman, Heidi Webster, told the Tribune that Cunningham and Freund were stealing from her and demanding more rent.
“Living there was the scariest time of my life,” Webster said. “I was told it was a fully furnished basement apartment in a soberliving home. It was not. It was a dark, dank moldy basement with a filthy old mattress and a couch that looked like they’d found it in a dumpster. No bathroom. Kitchen ceiling was falling down; the whole place was like a hoarding type situation.”
The caseworker warned Cunningham not to take in roommates if she wanted the court to return custody of AJ.
The couple, still relying on prescribed medicine to help control their addictions, enrolled in a parenting class and continued to pass random drug screens, records show. Cunningham remained under a psychiatrist’s care through Rosecrance and regularly saw her addiction counselor.
Still, the parents’ request in July 2014 for unsupervised visits with AJ was denied. He turned 1 that October, and his caseworker noted: “Andrew continues to thrive in his placement. All his needs are being met and he is hitting all development milestones.”
By then, Cunningham was pregnant again. She delivered her third child, another boy, that Dec. 30 and was allowed to take the newborn home. The boy was born without illicit drugs in his system, records state, and the parents were regularly attending treatment meetings in their community. A caseworker continued to visit the home twice a month.
Judge McIntyre let Cunningham and Freund have unsupervised visits with AJ beginning in November 2014, about one month before the baby was born, though their caseworker or a relative dropped in to ensure AJ was safe. But McIntyre continued to have concerns about the parents’ ability to remain sober, according to records detailing the court proceedings.
On Jan. 29, 2015, the judge denied Cunningham and Freund’s request for overnight visits with AJ, then 15 months old, noting they had asked their psychiatrist for a higher dosage of Suboxone. Their caseworker followed up with the psychiatrist, who assured her both of them were taking a normal dosage.
The couple had been sober for more than a year, records show, but their financial problems were mounting.
Freund, an attorney, hadn’t practiced law since 2013 because of licensing issues; he failed to keep up with continuing education requirements and his annual registration. He also struggled with medical problems, including an earlier stroke and more recent hospitalizations for high blood pressure.
He was receiving compensation for an earlier work-related injury while doing manual labor on a temp job. Cunningham received public assistance, sometimes worked as a hairstylist part time and volunteered at a local thrift store.
Though the mortgage on Freund’s longtime home was paid off, the couple owed about $25,000 in back taxes and got word in March 2015 that they could be evicted.
To try to raise money, they set up a GoFundMe page with photos of AJ and his younger brother. Cunningham eventually took down the photos at the caseworker’s insistence and connected with local resources such as her church and the Salvation Army. DCFS also provided financial help to the family.
The court’s original goal was for the parents to get AJ back by April 2015. McIntyre instead extended his time in state custody, meaning AJ would remain in his foster mom’s home a bit longer.
But the judge did allow the couple to begin having overnight visits with their son.
In the care of his foster mother, AJ continued to grow into a healthy, inquisitive toddler.
He attended gymnastics and a library program twice a week. His medical checkups showed AJ had overcome his rough start in life and was achieving developmental goals for a child his age.
His foster mother declined to speak with the Tribune. In an earlier written statement released to the media, that side of Cunningham’s family said AJ had a “happy, fun-loving life” while he was with her.
“This smart little boy loved having books read to him, doing puzzles, his Thomas the Train, playing with his firetrucks, bulldozers, cement mixer and Ninja Turtles,” the statement read. “He was very curious and always wanted to learn about everything.”
The third wife of Cunningham’s stepfather often supervised AJ’s visits with his parents in her home, court records show. Audrey Hughes told the Tribune he was “the happiest little boy” and Cunningham at that time “loved her children so much.”
Relatives say they had high hopes back then. AJ’s foster mother reported to the caseworker that AJ was adjusting to visits with his parents. At first, he “threw fits and wouldn’t allow anyone to comfort him,” records state.
The foster mom knew the day was drawing closer when she would have to give up AJ. In May, documents show, she asked the caseworker to talk to the parents about allowing her to be a part of his life after they regained custody.
One month later, in June 2015, Judge McIntyre ruled that AJ, at 20 months, could begin living with his parents and baby brother. The judge kept the juvenile court case open, though, so state monitoring of AJ’s care would continue, including visits to the couple’s home twice a month. DCFS, at this point, still had legal custody of AJ.
Things appeared to be looking up financially for Cunningham and Freund as they began raising their two young sons together. Freund told his caseworker he had borrowed $7,000 from a friend toward his tax debt and other bills and that he expected to be able to practice law again by early 2016 following a brief suspension.
During a regulatory hearing regarding his law license later that month, weeks after getting AJ back, Freund apologized for his mistakes, admitted to his struggles with alcohol and drugs and pledged to continue treatment for his family.
“I’ve worked very hard to turn my life around,” Freund told the panel, motioning to Cunningham in the audience. “She’s present here today and without a doubt, the most important relationship I have in my life. I have two young boys with her, and they need — they need a good role model, and I certainly intend to be there for them.”
Beginning in January 2016, Freund was allowed to practice law again on a probationary basis if he remained sober and continued with treatment.
When they got AJ back, Cunningham and Freund had been sober for 1½ years, according to random drug screens. That summer, they continued with treatment and counseling and enrolled their children in a KinderCare program four days a week.
Cunningham’s cousin — the one who was AJ’s foster mom — and other relatives sometimes watched the boys, typically on weekends, records show. Cunningham renewed her effort to try to regain custody of her oldest son, then 15, from her mother, but Hughes fought back in court and continued to raise the boy nearby.
Despite that three-year custody battle, Hughes said she still had contact with Cunningham when taking her grandson to visit his mother and younger brothers or at his school and sporting events. But, she said, their relationship was never the same. “She hated me,” Hughes said. Youth Service Bureau made 26 visits to AJ’s home — many unannounced — from June 2015 when the parents regained custody through April 2016 when the court case was closed. The county health department also made visits through 2015 as part of a public assistance program.
Though Mowers, the Youth Service Bureau caseworker, did not report many problems during this time, she did call the DCFS hotline in September 2015 when the results of one of Freund’s random drug screens showed he had taken more than the prescribed dosage of Suboxone. Mowers wanted Freund out of the house temporarily as a safety measure until he could be retested.
A furious Cunningham accused the caseworker of trying to “tear apart” her family.
DCFS declined to investigate Mowers’ hotline call, filing it away as “information only.” A subsequent test later that month came back within the allowed level, and Freund was allowed to return to the home, records show.
Mowers’ visits continued for months. On Feb. 25, 2016, she drove to AJ’s day care, taking the boy out of his classroom and spending time alone with him; the two played catch and rolled balls. The program director “had no concerns” about his life at home, she wrote.
One day later, legal custody of AJ was returned to his parents. The judge, however, kept the case open for 60 more days with continued monitoring because she had questions about the couple’s continued need for medication to control their heroin addiction.
That next month, days before Easter Sunday, Mowers appeared at the family’s doorstep for one of her remaining visits. AJ was holding a handheld vacuum when she first saw him; Cunningham said they were cleaning for the holiday. Both boys appeared in good health, though AJ had caught pink eye at day care. The caseworker’s notes show Cunningham promptly got her son medication.
Mowers also followed up with a Rosecrance psychiatrist to address the judge’s concerns. In an April 2016 letter, the psychiatrist said it can take at least three to five years for the brain to heal from the effects of opioid addiction.