A Chicago-area woman sentenced to 35 years in prison for the brutal murder of her five-year-old son is appealing her sentence on the grounds that she was suffering from postpartum psychosis at the time. In her statement to the court, 39-year-old Joann Cunningham said that she had asked the boy's father, 60-year-old Andrew Freund, and a local priest for an exorcism as she was "seeing demons" and believed that she and her son were possessed. Along with her postpartum psychosis defense, she also insists that she failed to receive adequate counsel.
On April 15, 2019, Cunningham, who was pregnant with her second child at the time, had reportedly become angry at her son, A.J., over the soiled underwear he had tried to conceal. She then forced the boy to stand under a cold shower for twenty minutes, struck his head with the showerhead, and put him to bed wet and naked. After realizing their son was dead, Cunningham and Freund then kept his body hidden in a plastic tote in their basement for two days. Meanwhile, they maintained the pretense that he was still alive with family members until burying his body in a shallow grave in a nearby field. Freund then called 911 on April 18 reporting his son missing. This led to a community-wide search involving local police and the FBI which continued for a week before Freund was finally persuaded to lead authorities to A.J.'s grave. After repeatedly denying any role in the death, Freund has since been convicted of involuntary manslaughter for his own role in the death as well as concealing the boy's body afterward.
A.J.'s death has also led to a major upheaval in the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services over perceived mismanagement of his case and failure to detect signs of abuse earlier. Though he was born with heroin in his system and spent much of his early life under court-ordered foster care, he was later returned to the custody of his parents. Along with other health care needs, he also showed behavior problems. Their other child has since been placed in foster care.
While Andrew Freund is currently serving a thirty-year sentence, the judge in JoAnn Cunningham's case is still deliberating over Joann Cunningham's petition for postconviction relief. Judge Robert Wilbrandt announced that he has 90 days to decide whether the post-conviction petition has merit. If relief is granted, Cunningham’s guilty plea and sentence could be set aside and a date set for a new trial.
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