Crystal Lake

An Illinois father charged in the death of his 5-year-old son, AJ Freund, pleaded guilty to several charges Friday and was sentenced to 30 years behind bars by a judge.

An Illinois father charged in the death of his 5-year-old son, AJ Freund, is expected to appear in court Friday, where his attorney said a plea deal could be announced. Andrew Freund Sr. is scheduled to appear before a judge Friday afternoon, two days after his attorney and prosecutors told told the court negotiations were underway. The hearing is scheduled…

Parents and teens across the state are pushing for a return to the classroom and the athletic field as they watch other states get their fall sports seasons going. NBC 5’s Trina Orlando has more.

Hundreds of students and parents are expected to assemble Tuesday night in Crystal Lake to call for a return to sports and in-person learning. But when it comes to resuming contact sports in Illinois, the governor says not so fast. NBC 5’s Chris Coffey reports.

JoAnn Cunningham, the mother of 5-year-old Andrew ‘AJ’ Freund, the young Crystal Lake boy whose disappearance sparked a massive manhunt before his body was found in a shallow grave in a far northwest Chicago suburb, was sentenced to prison Friday. Charlie Wojciechowski reports.

From time to time during her sentencing hearing on Thursday, JoAnn Cunningham had to move her surgical mask to wipe away tears as prosecutors laid out much of the same evidence they would have presented at her trial for the murder of her 5-year-old son AJ Freund. The 37-year-old Crystal Lake woman is facing a maximum of 60 years behind…

After a day of testimony in her sentencing hearing, JoAnn Cunningham stood before a judge and gave an emotional speech in which she said she misses AJ and her other children.

A northern Illinois woman who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the beating death of her 5-year-old son faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in state prison when she returns to court on Thursday.

The Illinois mother charged in the beating death of her 5-year-old son Andrew “AJ” Freund, a Crystal Lake boy who was reported missing before his body was found in a shallow grave in a far northwest suburb, is set to learn her fate this week. Joann Cunningham, 36, changed her plea to guilty earlier this year and faces 20 to 60 years…

Illinois prosecutors are investigating a former child welfare agency employee who supervised an abuse claim involving a 5-year-old suburban Chicago boy later found beaten to death, documents show. Prosecutors are exploring whether to charge Andrew Polovin with child endangerment related to Andrew “A.J.” Freund, The Northwest Herald reported. McHenry County state’s attorney investigator Robert Diviacchi filed a search warrant affidavit this...

The demolition of the suburban Chicago home where 5-year-old AJ Freund was killed has begun in Crystal Lake.

The Illinois mother charged in the beating death of her 5-year-old son Andrew “AJ” Freund, a Crystal Lake boy who was reported missing before his body was found in a shallow grave in a far northwest suburb, will learn her fate on April 30. Joann Cunningham, 36, recently changed her plea to guilty and will face 20 to 60 years in prison….

The parents of AJ Freund appeared in court Thursday. A judge revealed when mother JoAnn Cunningham would be sentenced and father Andrew Freund Sr. waived his trial by jury.

Child pornography and sexual assault charges have been filed against a man arrested after barricading himself inside a bathroom with a knife Friday in northwest suburban Crystal Lake. Matthew Reder, 24, of McHenry, is charged with two felony counts each of predatory criminal sexual assault, production of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to a statement from Crystal…

A Crystal Lake Central High School student who came to the U.S. with her father as they escaped violence in Honduras was released on bond after being unexpectedly detained during an immigration hearing last year

A suburban Crystal Lake teen who spent four months in federal immigration custody was welcomed home by her suburban community Thursday. NBC 5’s Lexi Sutter reports.

A Crystal Lake Central High School student who came to the U.S. with her father as they escaped violence in Honduras was released on bond Thursday after being unexpectedly detained during an immigration hearing last year. “I’m really happy,” said Meydi Guzman Rivas in Chicago after four months in a detention facility in southern Illinois. “So thankful for all...

A Crystal Lake Central High School student who came to the U.S. with her father as they escaped violence in Honduras was released on bond Thursday after being unexpectedly detained during an immigration hearing last year. Chris Coffey reports.