AJ’s history:
• AJ was born on 14 October 2013 and tested positive for having opiates and benzodiazepines in his system, and the hospital reported the abuse to DCFS. AJ was placed into the loving home of his cousin.
• Two years DCFS determined that AJ’s parents had stopped abusing drugs and could provide a suitable environment to raise a child, the juvenile court ordered AJ to be returned to his parents at their home
• DCFS conducted follow up visits with AJ’s parents until April of 2016 at which time DCFS closed its abuse and neglect case, restoring full custodial rights to AJ’s parents.
• In 2017, in order to prevent the intervention of relatives, AJ’s parents forbid AJ’s grandmother and AJ’s brother Austin [AJ’s brother who was removed from the home in October 2013] from having any further contact with AJ and Parker. AJ’s foster parent who raised AJ for the first eighteen months of his life, from having any further contact with AJ.
• In 2017, AJ’s parents reverted to their destructive drug-addicted lifestyle and DCFS began receiving Hotline Calls which reported that the children were neglected and subjected to deplorable living conditions at the Dole House.
• On 31 October 2017, a neighbor to the Dole House reported that AJ and his brother came to her house for trick-or-treating. When she answered the door, the neighbor assumed that AJ was dressed in a Mummy costume, however, AJ’s mother informed her that AJ had accidently spilled boiling water on his head and face. Unconvinced by this explanation, the neighbor reported this incident to DCFS via a Hotline Call. The neighbor also states that she subsequently made numerous other Hotline Calls concerning the deplorable conditions that she observed at the Dole House which were unfit for a child to live in.
• On 21 March 2018, AJ’s mother was found passed out in a car as a result of a drug overdose and was taken to the emergency room at Centegra Memorial Hospital. AJ’s father, accompanied by AJ and his younger brother Parker who were dressed in their clothes inside out, showed up at the hospital to retrieve the keys to the car that AJ’s mother had been found in.  A medical professional [mandatory reporting] at Centegra Hospital made a Hotline Call based upon her observation that AJ had odd bruising on his face and forehead and that both AJ and his brother Parker were dirty and appeared neglected.
• After numerous attempts to contact the Freund family, Kathleen Gold finally had contact on 25 April 2018.  Gold briefly met with AJ’s mother outside of the Dole House. Gold observed AJ and his brother playing outside in the driveway, but she did not conduct an interview outside of the presence of their mother with either of the boys. On 17 May 2018, Gold finally met with AJ, Parker and their parents inside the Dole House. In her report, Gold states that the “house appeared clean, neat and adequately furnished. The house appeared in good repair both inside and outside. All utilities were working. Home appeared to be hazard free.” Gold also conducted a private interview with AJ’s father who denied “any substance abuse treatment or DUIs and denied being arrested, police involvement or domestic violence.”  Gold never investigated the bruises reported on AJ’s face. On 18 May  2018, Gold after ignoring nearly all DCFS Investigative Directives and conducting what at best might be deemed a sham investigation into the March Hotline Call, concluded that the allegations of abuse were “Unfounded”.
• On 5 August 2018, AJ’s parents called the Crystal Lake police to the Dole House and reported that someone stole their opioid prescription drugs. The officers noted in their report that AJ’s parents appeared to be on narcotics and that false reporting of the loss of prescription drugs, as a ruse to obtain a replacement prescription, was a common ploy of drug abusers to get their opioid prescriptions refilled prematurely.
• On 20 September 2018, Crystal Lake Police Department received a report from a citizen who was concerned about the well-being of AJ and Parker due to the fact that the children were living in deplorable conditions and that the utilities to the Dole House had been shut off. Officer Dennis Meyer responded to the call. AJ’s mother answered the door but did not let Officer Meyer into the house. She admitted that the living conditions were poor and that the power had been off for a while but claimed that she was looking for a new place to live. AJ’s mother refused to allow Officer Meyer to enter and inspect the home. Immediately following his visit to the Dole House, Officer Meyer made a Hotline Call on 20 September 2018 and reported the allegations of environmental neglect set forth in the citizen’s complaint as supported by his own observations and noted that he was unable to view much of the interior of the home due to the refusal of AJ’s mother to allow him entry. Officer Meyer never heard back from anyone at DCFS. None of the documents produced by DCFS in response to the DCFS Discovery Citation makes any reference of an investigation into Officer Meyer’s September Hotline Call; in fact, the records produced by DCFS do not even reference that the September Hotline Call had ever been made.
• On 18 December 2018, the Crystal Lake Police Department received a call from AJ’s mother, which she made from a parking lot at the Taco Bell who claimed that her live-in lover Daniel Nowicki had stolen her opioid medications. Officer Kimberly Shipbaugh met with AJ’s mother at the Taco Bell parking lot and noticed two young children in the backseat of her car, one of whom was visibly upset. Officer Shipbaugh directed AJ’s mother to drive the children back to their home and that she would follow them in her squad car. Officer Nickolaus Trimpe located Nowicki walking in a commercial area of Crystal Lake. Nowicki denied stealing AJ’s mother’s opioids but claimed that they had gotten into an argument that morning because AJ’s mother had stolen his opioid medications and that he left the house because she had gotten belligerent and started shouting at him in front of the children.
Officers Shipbaugh and Trimpe were appalled that the children were living in deplorable conditions, specifically detailing in their report the following observations: (1) dog feces and urine were scattered about the residence; (2) several windows of the residence, including AJ’s bedroom, were broken which allowed cold outside air to enter the residence; (3) that despite the broken windows and freezing conditions, AJ was dressed in only a diaper; (4) a fireplace that appeared to be the main heat source was broken; (5) filth, clutter, dirt, and disrepair was evident throughout the home; (6) there was jagged and broken flooring in the kitchen; (7) there was water damage to the kitchen ceiling, causing it to partially collapse; (8) the furniture was covered in piles of dirty clothing; (9) the door to the kitchen was covered by unknown brown substances; and, (10) although AJ’s bedroom window was open, an overwhelming smell of feces permeated the room.
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AJ was only wearing a pull-up diaper, the officers noticed a large bruise that extended from AJ’s right hip onto his thigh. When questioned about the bruising, AJ’s mother’s first response was that “she had not noticed it before”. After looking at the bruise as if for the first time, AJ’s mother stated, “that it must have been from the dog.” Both boys, AJ and Parker were taken into protective custody by Officer Shipbaugh.
Dr Channon, an emergency room physician, examined AJ at 2:40PM. In her notes, she indicated that AJ had suffered abrasions to his upper lip and right hip. When questioned in the presence of his mother, AJ told Dr. Channon that his dog caused the injuries when they were playing; however, when Dr. Channon met with AJ privately, Dr. Channon documented that AJ reluctantly revealed that his injury occurred because his mother had hit him with a belt, but that she didn’t mean to hurt him. As the doctor pressed for more information, AJ returned to his story that the bruise was caused by the dog, but then offered a new explanation that he had fallen while getting a juice box.
Dr. Channon references that she spoke with Defendant Acosta by phone at 4:30PM and relayed to him that AJ had told her that his mother had hit him with a belt and that AJ changed his story multiple times. Dr. Channon expressed concern to Acosta that AJ was the victim of abuse from his mother or another family member, but that she was not qualified to opine on the cause of AJ’s injury and that Acosta should arrange for AJ to meet with a professional trained to evaluate child abuse. 113. In his report, Acosta admits that Dr. Channon told him that she had no idea of what caused AJ’s injuries because she was neither a forensic specialist nor a child abuse specialist.
Despite Dr. Channon’s inability to offer an opinion on the cause of AJ’s injuries, Acosta ignored DCFS’ mandate that AJ be examined by a physician qualified to provide an opinion on whether AJ’s contusions were evidence of child abuse.
Shortly after Acosta began his investigation, he released AJ and Parker from DCFS’ protective custody and allowed their patently drug-addicted parents to take the children back to their deplorable home environment—filled with feces, collapsed ceilings, missing flooring, all of which the Crystal Lake Police had documented with photographs earlier that day.
• On 19 December 2018, Acosta went to Dole House and concluded it was a suitable environment for AJ and his brother. However, Acosta’s Report fails to reference let alone reconcile his alleged observations with the deplorable conditions photographed by the Crystal Lake Police the day before which depicted living conditions unfit for a dog.
• On 20nDecember 2018, Defendant Acosta falsely certified the CERAP by finding that AJ faced no safety threats if he was returned to the Dole House, summarizing his “Safety Decision” as follows:
The child or children are currently safe. Andrew was found to have a large bruise on his right trunk, which he states as caused by his dog (a large boxer breed). Medical exam was inconclusive. RE Dr. stated it “could have been a dog or a belt or a football.” Home was found by CLPD to be cluttered and have animal urine present. Worker visited the home the next day and found the sleeping areas appropriate. Dining and living rooms were cluttered with clothes and toys, but no clear safety concerns or hazards observed.
• On 4 January 2019, Polovin a DCFS Public Service Administrator who at all relevant times acted as Acosta’s supervisor, in reckless disregard of his duties to ensure that DCFS’ investigative child protection protocols are followed, blessed Defendant Acosta’s sham investigation and concurred in his finding that the December Hotline Call of abuse to be “Unfounded”.
• On 18 April 2019, the Crystal Lake Police Department responded to a missing person’s report filed by AJ’s parents. Upon their arrival at the Dole House, the police reported observing the same deplorable living conditions that they relayed to DCFS in their previous reports.  DCFS  removed AJ’s 4 year old brother Parker while the agency investigates abuse and neglect allegations.
• 24 April 2019, AJ was found in a shallow grave wrapped in plastic just 7.5 miles from his home.
Joann Cunningham was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, four counts of aggravated battery, two counts of aggravated domestic battery, and one count of failure to report a missing or child death.
Andrew Freund Sr. was charged with five counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery, one count of aggravated domestic battery, two counts of concealment of a homicidal death, and one count of failure to report a missing or child death.
• AJ’s father admitted that he and AJ’s mother would frequently, as “forms of discipline”: 1.  inflict severe beatings upon AJ; 2. imprison AJ in his bedroom at night or during the day for hours at a time; and, 3. force AJ to take 20-minute freezing cold showers.
AJ’s father told investigators that AJ died as a result of a cold shower punishment. McHenry County Coroner autopsy report stated AJ’s body revealed that he most likely died on 15 April 2019 due to multiple blunt force injuries to the head.
The house after AJ was found dead!
The house after!
• On 31 May 2019 Cunningham gave birth to a baby girl.  A sister AJ will never meet, get to okay with, or just protect her.  Cunningham named her Gracie Faith! Daniel Nowicki Jr is the girls father.
• Daniel Nowicki Jr., 36,  died of an overdose in Indian on 29 September 2019. Nowicki had a court-appointed attorney working so he could have a role in his daughter life!
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