Newly-released photos show conditions in home of murdered Crystal Lake 5-year-old AJ Freund
CRYSTAL LAKE, Ill. (FOX 32) - Newly released photos offer a first look inside the Crystal Lake home owned by AJ Freund's parents, the place investigators have described as debilitated and filthy.
FOX 32 obtained the photos through a Freedom of Information Act request after A.J.'s murder last month. Police have charged his parents with the crime.
The pictures are from 2012 and then in 2013, just months before A.J. was born. They show Joann Cunningham and Andrew Freund Sr.'s home cluttered with clothing and furniture in disarray, as well as insect traps in what appears to be a disheveled bedroom.
In photos of the couple's bathroom and kitchen, investigators have described the missing tiles as having sharp edges. One photo shows dog feces and mouse droppings covering the floor.
The Northwest Herald also obtained an affidavit with troubling details about how investigators came to charge AJ's parents in his death.
Among the revelations, Freund Sr. allegedly kept AJ’s body in a plastic tote bag for days in the home's basement before burying the child in a shallow grave.
The day police believe A.J. was killed, police say they found a Google search on Freund Sr.'s cellphone for child CPR. They also say they found a shopping list on his phone that included duct tape, plastic gloves, air freshener, and bleach.
The day A.J. died, documents say the child was punished for urinating in his underwear. He was then put in a cold shower for about 20 minutes, before being sent to bed "cold wet and naked."
Finally, the affidavit says the child Cunningham is weeks away from giving birth to belongs to another man, not Freund Sr.
The prosecutor in the case has been complaining for nearly a year about the actions of DCFS, according to the Chicago Tribune. The family has a long record with DCFS though social workers found recent allegations of abuse "unfounded."