DAYTON — Two people are facing charges in connection with the death of a missing non-verbal, autistic child whose body was found hours after he was reported missing over the weekend.
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News Center 7 previously reported that 7-year-old Hershall Creachbaum was reported missing around 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning. Police previously reported that he was 8, but said he was 7 on Monday.
His family reported him missing from a home in the 400 block of Xenia Ave.
Hours later, around 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening, police found remains believed to be Creachbaum’s less than half a mile from where he was reported missing.
Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal confirmed on Monday that Creachbaum had actually not been seen for several weeks, and that he had been dead for several weeks.
Police have made two arrests in the case. Creachbaum’s biological mother, 36-year-old Ashley N. Johnson, and her boyfriend, 38-year-old Michael Kendrick, were both arrested and charged in connection with the case.
Johnson has been charged with obstructing justice and failure to report a death.
Kendrick has been charged with three counts of tampering with evidence and one count of abuse of a corpse.
While jail records indicated Kendrick was initially booked on suspicion of murder, as well as other charges, he has not been charged with murder at this time. Additional charges could be filed pending the investigation.
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Now, court documents filed on Monday afternoon are revealing new information about what Johnson and Kendrick said happened.
Initially, on July 12, Kendrick called 911 and reported that Creachbaum had been kidnapped from their front porch. Kendrick, Johnson, and another man were all brought in for interviews with police.
Police wrote in an affidavit that they learned Creachbaum was dead after speaking with Johnson.
“She advised that the death took place sometime while she was in the hospital having surgery in late May,” court documents state.
At that time, Creachbaum was in the custody of Kendrick, who allegedly told Johnson he died of natural causes and that he had “disposed of his body in an unknown location by railroad tracks.”
While interviewing Kendrick, police said he admitted to punching the boy in the head twice.
“He then pushed him down, causing him to bounce off the floor and striking other parts of his body,” court documents state, noting Kendrick claimed the boy died the next day in the shower.
Police wrote that Kendrick admitted to keeping Creachbaum’s body in the home “until he started to smell at which time he placed him in a deep freezer.”
“He then took him out, stuffed him into a suitcase and disposed of his body in a grassy field near train tracks. He then after a few weeks went back and recovered the bones. He placed them in a bag and put them in the 100 block of McClure St.” the affidavit states.
Several of the boy’s family members told News Center 7 on Monday that his paternal grandmother had custody of him and cared for him until she got into a car accident in November. As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, the family said Johnson started caring for him while his grandmother recovered.
Afzal said Monday that it was their understanding that Johnson had custody of the boy at the time.
The family also said they’ve had concerns for months. Turns out someone else did too, because police confirmed that Montgomery County Children’s Services had been involved and had even taken custody of his older sister.
News Center 7 reached out to Children’s Services about the case on Monday. A spokesperson called the situation “heartbreaking,” but cited Ohio law that prevents them from confirming or denying if there was a case involving Creachbaum and his family.
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