July 18 (UPI) — An Illinois judge sentenced a woman who confessed to killing her 5-year-old son to 35 years in prison on Friday.
In addition to the prison time, JoAnn Cunningham, 37, must serve three years of mandatory supervised release for the death of Andrew “A.J.” Freund. Judge Robert Wilbrant said Cunningham must serve her entire sentence.
She pleaded guilty in December to a single count of first-degree murder, saying she struck the child sometime between April 15, 2019, and April 17, 2019, with the awareness that it would create a “strong probability of death or great bodily harm.”
Cunningham faced up to 60 years in prison.
She and her husband, Andrew Freund Sr. both initially pleaded not guilty to a combined 41 charges.
The McHenry County Coroner’s Office said A.J. died of injuries to his skull and brain sustained from blunt-force trauma. His body was found wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave in Woodstock, Ill.
A.J.’s father reported him missing to police April 18, 2019, telling the 911 dispatch operator he had last seen his son the night before when he put him to bed. Court documents said the child’s parents forced him to remain “in a cold shower for an extended period of time” before he was struck to death on April 15.
The McHenry County State’s Attorney Office said it was disappointed with the sentence.
“We know that whatever the punishment, it will not ease the loss and pain we feel. A.J. was an innocent, precious little boy whose life was taken from him after he endured, what we now know, was much pain and suffering. We had expected Joann would pay for that by spending her natural life in prison,” the office said.
Freund Sr.’s trial is expected to begin July 30.
