The parents of Andrew Freund plead not guilty of the murder of their son

May 10, 2019, 16:11 UTC

By Minyvonne Burke

The parents of Andrew Freund, the 5-year-old boy, found dead in a shallow grave near his home in the Chicago suburbs, about a week after his parents went missing, have pleaded not guilty Friday to several counts, including murder.

JoAnn Cunningham, 36, and Andrew Freund Sr, 60, pleaded in a McHenry County Court one day after a grand jury charged them with 20 counts, including three counts of murder. and a head of concealment of the death sentence pronounced on April 15. murder of their son.

During the hearing, Freund and Cunningham requested a jury trial and a judge granted a motion requesting a psychological assessment, reports NBC Chicago.

The couple was arrested on April 24, the same day that police found Andrew's body wrapped in plastic, buried in a grave in Woodstock, Illinois, about a 20-minute drive from the family home at Crystal Lake. An autopsy revealed that Andrew had died from multiple blunt head injuries.

According to an affidavit, Andrew died after Cunningham and Freund beat him and forced him to take a cold shower as punishment for urinating in his underwear.

Court documents show that Cunningham and Freund were also indicted on Thursday for additional charges related to a battery resulting from an unspecified incident on March 4, as well as several counts of irresponsible conduct, unlawful coercion and endangerment of children arising from an incident that occurred in September 2018.

Freund, who called the police on April 18 to report his son's disappearance, was also charged with filing a false complaint at 911. Freund eventually led the police to Andrew's body after the investigators discovered a video on mobile phone showing the child lying naked on a mattress covered with bruises and bandages, according to court records.

Cunningham and Freund are being held in McHenry County Jail with a bond of $ 5 million each.