Andrew ‘AJ’ Freund tried to tell doctor about abuse months before death

An Illinois boy whose parents are charged with murdering him tried to get help in the months before his death.

“Maybe someone hit me with a belt. Maybe mommy didn’t mean to hurt me,” Andrew “AJ” Freund told a doctor just four months before his body was found in shallow grave.

The 5-year-old had a large bruise on his hip when he visited the doctor a few weeks days Christmas. The boy and his mother claimed the family dog, Lucy, caused the bruise when the 60-pound boxer jumped on him, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The paper reported the doctor was suspicious, but couldn’t find a cause, and took the child aside. The shocking comment was his response when the doctor asked him privately what happened.

But despite the alarming comment, a call to a state child abuse hotline that said the boy was covered in “cuts, welts and bruises,” and 27 visits to the family’s home by state social workers, the boy was allowed to stay with his parents, according to the Daily Mail.

His father, Andrew, 60, a lawyer, and mother, JoAnn Cunningham, 36, a cosmetologist, are each facing five counts of murder and a list of other charges. Two case workers have been taken off all hands-on work pending an internal investigation into the tragedy by the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services.