An Illinois mother is facing 60 years in prison for the beating death of her 5-year-old son, who was wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave near the family’s home.
McHenry County Judge Robert Wilbrandt heard statements from neighbors at the sentencing trial Thursday that detailed numerous accounts of seeing the boy with cuts and bruises on his body years before he died in April 2019.
Heartbreaking audiotape played by McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally brought the convicted mother, JoAnn Cunningham, and other members of the family and courtroom to tears.
JoAnn Cunningham faces up to 60 years in prison for the beating death of her 5-year old son AJ.
Two weeks before his death, the boy, Andrew “AJ” Freund, told his mother he would like to have “really bad people” do bad things to her so she would leave him with his father, according to the tape that was played in court.
“Why do you want those bad people to hurt me?” Cunningham asked him.
“So I don’t ever see you again,” AJ answered, according to reports by the Northwest Herald.
A cellphone video from Cunningham’s phone dated March 4, also showed AJ laying naked on a mattress with bruises and bandages on his body, according to reports by 360aproko news.
A woman who police say is Cunningham can be heard yelling at him for wetting the bed.
ILLINOIS MOM PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDERING 5-YEAR-OLD BOY MONTHS AFTER BODY FOUND IN SHALLOW GRAVE
When confronted with the footage, it was the boy’s father, Andrew Freund Sr., who led police to the body.
Cunningham and Freund were arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
Freund has pleaded not guilty and says Cunningham was the one who beat the boy. Court documents show AJ died from blunt force trauma and has bruising that matched the marks of a detachable showerhead.
Prosecutors say AJ was forced to stand under a freezing shower and was beaten while in the bathroom.
Freund told investigators that he put the boy to bed “cold, wet and naked” and later found him unresponsive.
He admitted that he put AJ’s body in a plastic container and stored it in the basement to be buried later. A shopping list included “duct tape, plastic gloves, air freshener and bleach,” according to a photograph contained in a search warrant, 360aproko reported.
A judge will likely decide Cunningham’s fate on Friday. If she receives the maximum penalty, she could spend the rest of her life in prison.
