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$2M bond set for man charged with disposing of 7-year-old Dayton boy’s body

DAYTON — A man arrested in connection with disposing a 7-year-old non-verbal autistic boy’s body in Dayton made his first court appearance on Tuesday.

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Michael Kendrick, 39, appeared in Dayton Municipal Court via video from the Montgomery County Jail for his arraignment.

There, a judge set his bond at $2 million. If he’s able to come up with the money, he’ll be on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.

As News Center 7 previously reported, Kendrick and his girlfriend, 36-year-old Ashley Johnson, were both arrested and charged in connection with the death of Johnson’s 7-year-old son, Hershall Creachbaum.

The boy was reported missing on Saturday morning, and Dayton Police found his remains not far from his home on Xenia Avenue later that day.

As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00, the judge spoke on his decision for the high bond.

“Based upon the severity of the charges and the information contained within the report, which is severe and significant,” Dayton Municipal Court Magistrate Judge Brandon McClain said.

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The report the judge is talking about is the court documents News Center 7 got on Monday.

They show Kendrick admitted that while Johnson was in the hospital in late May, he hit Creachbaum twice, pushed him down, then hid his body when he died the next day.

He also admitted to moving his remains several times.

Some of Creachbaum’s family were in court today. News Center 7 could hear some members gasp in relief when the bond was announced.

They then spoke about the boy they lost outside the courthouse.

“He didn’t deserve what he got at all,” Jessica McNier, Creachbaum’s great-aunt, said. “He didn’t deserve it.”

McNier said she also sits and thinks about Creachbaum’s last moments.

“What was going through that baby’s head while he was sitting there punching him?” she said.

Court documents also show Kendrick led investigators to the remains on Saturday, just hours after he first called 911, claiming the boy had been kidnapped.

Police say Kendrick and Johnson stayed silent about Creachbaum’s death for weeks, right up until their admissions to detectives on Saturday.

As shown on News Center 7 at 6:00, family members said they had concerns about him for months.

They didn’t find out until this week that police believe the boy actually died in late May, but the family said they had worries around that time when Johnson wouldn’t let them see him at her house.

McNier said they went to the house in June to try and see him.

“And I even asked where buddy was, where Hershall was, and she told me they were bombing for bugs, that nobody could go in,” she said.

His family and a parent volunteer at Ruskin Elementary, where Creachbaum went to school, said several people called Montgomery County Children Services about his welfare before his death.

“He was being neglected and abused, and CPS failed him,” Missy Creachbaum, the boy’s great-aunt, said.

Police told News Center 7 at one point, Children Services did have a case open related to Creachbaum, but that case was not open when his remains were found.

It’s not clear how many reports people made to Children Services. A spokesperson for Children Services told News Center 7 on Monday that a state law prevents them from confirming or denying if there was a case involving the family.

Now, his family is voicing these concerns after learning about his death and watching his mom and her boyfriend start to answer to criminal charges.

“I want justice,” McNier said. “They both need to be sent to prison.”

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