Police: Slain Illinois boy was beaten, put in cold shower

CHICAGO (AP) — Police believe an Illinois couple who reported their 5-year-old son missing last week killed him days earlier by beating him and forcing him to stand in a cold shower for an extended period of time, according to court documents released today.

The allegations are included in a criminal complaint that outlines first-degree murder, aggravated battery and several other charges against Joann Cunningham, 36, and Andrew Freund Sr., 60, in the death of Andrew "AJ" Freund. A judge today set bail at $5 million, meaning each parent would have to post 10 percent, or $500,000, to be released from jail.

An autopsy was scheduled for later today to determine a cause of death and to confirm the remains found a day earlier wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow grave are those of the child, as investigators believe.

Investigators say they found the body a few miles from the family's Crystal Lake home based on information provided by Freund. Crystal Lake is about 50 miles northwest of Chicago. The couple's brief court appearance came exactly a week after Freund triggered a massive search on April 18 when he called 911 to report that the couple hadn't seen their son since bedtime the night before. Police believe the boy was killed April 15, according to the criminal complaint.

Authorities say the boy had lived in deplorable conditions.

"It is my hope that you may have some solace in knowing that AJ is no longer suffering and his killers have been brought to justice," Crystal Lake Police Chief James Black told reporters Wednesday, in a statement directed at the child's relatives.

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Service had a long history with the family – including an investigation that was launched shortly after AJ was born when tests revealed there were opiates in his body that prompted the agency to place the boy in foster care for nearly two years.