Disabled Boy, 7, Was Dead for Weeks Before Report Filed, Investigators Say

In relation to the killing of her 7-year-old kid, whose remains were discovered close to her home, an Ohio mother and her boyfriend were both taken into custody.

The remains of a child were discovered less than half a mile away on Saturday, just hours after 7-year-old Hershall Creachbaum was reported missing by his mother’s boyfriend, 39-year-old Michael Kendrick. According to Dayton Police, they thought the remains were Hershall’s.

Following the tragic conclusion of the search for the boy, who had nonverbal autism and used a wheelchair, the inquiry into his claimed abduction turned up the unsettling detail that the boy had reportedly been missing for weeks.

Ashley H. Johnson, his mother, 36, told investigators that Hershall had passed away “sometime while she was in the hospital having surgery in late May,” according to court filings.

Dayton Police Chief Kamran Afzal acknowledged during a press conference on Monday that the youngster “had not been seen for several weeks” prior to Kendrick reporting him missing. According to investigators, it was eventually thought that he had never been missing and had been deceased the entire time.

under May, Johnson informed investigators that Hershall was under Kendrick’s care while she underwent surgery, according to criminal records.

According to the police, Kendrick first claimed that Hershall had passed away naturally before allegedly confessing to punching the youngster before he “pushed him down, causing him to bounce off the floor and striking other parts of his body.” According to rumors, Kendrick said that Hershall passed away in the shower.

According to the police, Kendrick acknowledged storing the boy’s remains in the house “until he started to smell,” after which he put them in a freezer.

Then, according to reports, Kendrick “stuffed him into a suitcase and disposed of his body in a grassy field near train tracks.” According to reports, he returned to his original disposal site a few weeks later, placed Hershall’s remains in a bag, and left them where they had been found.

For months, family members voiced their worries about Hershall. According to family members who spoke to the program, Johnson kept custody of Hershall after his paternal grandmother was hurt in an automobile accident.

Montgomery County Children Services had been involved with the family and had seized custody of Hershall’s sister, Chief Afzal said at his press conference.

Kendrick and Johnson have not been accused of murder.

The Dayton County Jail is where both are being held. Johnson is being jailed on $2,000 bond after being charged with obstructing justice and failing to disclose a death. Kendrick was accused of one count of abusing a corpse and three charges of tampering with evidence.

He has not been formally charged with murder, child endangerment, or assault, although those charges are listed in jail documents. They’re holding him without a bond.