What's The Fate Of Murder Suspect JoAnn Cunningham's Baby?

CRYSTAL LAKE, IL — A 36-year-old Crystal Lake woman accused of killing her son is due to have her fourth child any day, but what will happen to the baby isn’t clear. JoAnn Cunningham, who is at least eight-months pregnant, is in custody at the McHenry County Jail on $5 million bail after she and Andrew Freund Sr., 60, were accused of murdering their 5-year-old son, AJ Freund, on April 15.

Cunningham was seven-months pregnant when she was arrested and has been receiving maternal care while housed in administrative segregation at the jail, Sandra Rogers, a spokeswoman for the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, told Patch in an email response last month. She has been receiving medical care while at the jail and, if need be, “will be transported to the hospital,” Rogers said.

“After the baby is delivered, DCFS will determine what is to be done,” Rogers wrote in an email.

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DCFS does not start to determine the placement of an unborn child until that child is born, Jassen Strokosch, director of communication for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, also told Patch in an email. Where that child is placed will not be public information.

In a situation where a baby is born and his or her birth parents are both in custody, DCFS typically takes protective custody of that child, Strokosch said. Within 48 hours of that time, a judge will decide who will take temporary custody of the newborn.

“From there, the long-term plan related to the newborn is determined through a number of decision made in the courts,” according to Strockosch. “There are a number of variables that make it difficult to say exactly how and at what pace it will proceed.”

Some of those factors include the family’s structure, age of the child or special needs of the child, he said.

“Where a child is placed is always made in the best interest of each individual child,” Strockosh said.

The baby will be Cunningham’s fourth child. Her oldest child was placed with a relative when he was 12 years old.

AJ, her second child, spent the first months of his life in foster care after he was born with opioids in his system. The Youth Service Bureau of Illinois was assigned to provide services to Cunningham and Freund Sr. while AJ remained in foster care with a relative for the next 18 months. He was returned to his parent’s care in June 2015.

AJ Freund was killed on April 15 and his body was found about a week later in a shallow grave near Woodstock, Illinois, authorities have said.

Meanwhile, custodial rights to Cunningham’s third child, AJ’s younger brother, are yet to be determined. The boy has been “doing wonderfully,” Jeanne A. Barrett, the court-appointed guardian, said in a hearing Thursday. She would not share anymore information on the boy’s current living situation, according to the Northwest Herald.

Andrew Freund and Cunningham are next expected in court June 24 for a hearing regarding the parental rights of the younger brother. They are due in court on the criminal charges June 18.