MCHENRY COUNTY, Unwell. — The trial for 2 former Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) staff accused of kid endangerment enters its third day Wednesday.

The multiple felony charges filed in Sept. 2020 against Andrew Polovin and Carlos Acosta stem from the April 2019 death of five-year-old Andrew “AJ” Freund of Crystal Lake. They’re accused of getting known Freund’s life was at risk 4 months earlier yet not taking motion.

The bench trial began on Mondayy with the McHenry County State’s Attorney providing a gap statement for the prosecution, and separate attorneys providing statements for every of the defendants. Tuesday’s proceedings were occupied entirely by the state’s fourth witness, Carol Ruzicka. Ruzicka is a retired DCFS regional administrator who testified for the prosecution as an authority in regard to DCFS procedures.

Ruzicka will return to the stand Wednesday where the defense attorneys representing Polovin and Acosta will start the day with their continued cross-examination.

WGN plans to proceed its livestream of the trial inside this story starting at roughly 9:30 a.m. There may be a planned pause for the livestream in the course of the court’s lunch break after which it is going to begin again inside this story.

The trial is predicted to take roughly one week.

Freund’s mother, JoAnn Cunningham, pleaded guilty to her murder charge and was sentenced to 35 years. His father, Andrew Freund, pleaded guilty to an assortment of charges and was sentenced to 30 years.