Father of AJ's Half-Sister Dies of Suspected Overdose: Coroner

MCHENRY COUNTY, IL — The father of A.J. Freund's half-sister has died of a suspected drug overdose, officials told the Chicago Tribune. Daniel Nowicki Jr., 36, died Sunday night at a hospital in Kokomo, Indiana.

Nowicki met Joann Cunningham, the Crystal Lake mother accused of killing A.J. Freund, in a drug treatment program, according to the newspaper. In 2018, Nowicki lived with Cunningham and Andrew Freund, 60, and their two sons at their home on Dole Avenue in Crystal Lake when Cunningham and Nowicki, at some point, became romantically involved.

Freund is also accused in the April beating death of his 5-year-old son, A.J. He and Cunningham remain in custody at the McHenry County Jail on $5 million bail. On May 31, Cunningham gave birth while in custody.

An attorney for Nowicki told a judge that Nowicki would like to have a "role in the girl's life," during a hearing regarding the infant child's care, according to an earlier article on the Chicago Tribune. At the time, Nowicki was wanted on an arrest warrant in an unrelated criminal case.

Authorities said Nowicki was in custody when A.J. Freund was killed in April. He has not been linked to or charged in connection with his death.

He had been living with friends in Indiana at the time of his death, the Chicago Tribune reports. Howard County, Indiana, Coroner Steven Seele told the newspaper Nowicki's death is under investigation and officials suspect he died of a drug overdose.

"The investigation is pending toxicology," Seele said.

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