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Mother of 7-year-old boy found dead in Dayton makes first court appearance

DAYTON — The mother of a 7-year-old non-verbal autistic boy found dead in Dayton over the weekend made her first appearance before a judge on Wednesday.

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Ashley Johnson, 36, was officially charged with one count of obstructing justice on Wednesday, according to Dayton Municipal Court records.

Johnson appeared before a judge by video from the Montgomery County Jail on Wednesday. As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00, she could be seen sitting in a wheelchair.

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The hearing lasted less than a minute.

There, a judge set her bond at $250,000. If she comes up with the money to get out of jail, she’ll be on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor.

Johnson is charged after police say they found her son, Hershall Creachbaum’s remains less than half a mile from their home on Xenia Avenue in Dayton on Saturday.

Police told News Center 7 that they believe the boy had been dead “several weeks” by the time they found his remains.

Johnson’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Michael Kendrick, is accused of dumping Creachbaum’s body.

Kendrick, who is not the boy’s biological father, appeared in court on Tuesday.

Court documents obtained by News Center 7 show Kendrick admitted to hitting Creachbaum twice and pushing him down before he died the next day. This happened at some point while Johnson was in the hospital for surgery in late May.

Johnson is currently scheduled to appear in court next on July 24. Kendrick is set to be in court next on July 22.

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