Less than four months later, authorities recovered what they believe to be Hershall’s bones on a hill a short walk from his mother’s home.
Investigators allege the boyfriend, Michael Kendrick, dumped Hershall’s remains after he died in his care, shortly after Kendrick reportedly punched and shoved the boy to the ground. Court records allege Kendrick had been drinking and got into an argument while on the phone shortly before he hit Hershall.
Michael Wright, an attorney hired by Hershall’s estate to conduct an independent investigation, says he believes Children Services failed to protect the boy and other agencies also may have dropped the ball and share responsibility for his demise.
Dayton police were called to their home on Xenia Avenue three times in recent months. Two calls with concerns about the children’s condition came the month before Hershall reportedly died and one call came potentially after he died but before his death was reported.
Police records also indicate that a Children Services agency had an open case on the family.
“His death was very tragic, and preventable,” Wright said. “We believe that Children Services failed this child. We know that teachers and the police called Children Services on multiple occasions to report issues as it relates to the care of this child.”
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said it’s too soon to say if there were signs that Hershall was in serious danger before his death.
“We just have to get all the information,” Heck said. “But I am going to find out what the hell happened to this child, because what happened to the child should never have happened.”
What is clear is that Kendrick had a long history of violence, threats and drunk abusive behavior against family members, ex-partners and other people in his life, according to police and court records obtained by the Dayton Daily News.
Kendrick lit his mother’s home on fire and attacked her on multiple occasions, according to police and court records. He also allegedly hit other family members and threatened to kill his sister, his mother, an ex-girlfriend and her children and other people he knew. Kendrick also had quite a few run-ins with law enforcement while he was intoxicated and acting disorderly.
Welfare checks
Incident reports indicate that someone from the kids’ school called dispatch on April 3 to request a welfare check on a 7-year-old student and an 11-year-old student in Dayton. The reporting party, whose name is redacted in the records, said there were potential signs of neglect and their mother’s boyfriend was intoxicated when he brought the kids to school.
“Both special needs children, have (advised) that sometimes they are left without food,” says a summary of the call.
Hershall had autism, cerebral palsy and was nonverbal and used a wheelchair. His sister also has special needs.
Dayton police went to the kids’ home on the 400 block of Xenia Avenue but no one was there, police records say. The responding officers contacted Children Services and learned there was already an open case, records say.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Someone from the school contacted dispatch again the following day, on April 4, and said the mom’s boyfriend tried to pick up the kids from school but he was intoxicated and they did not release the students, dispatch records state. He reportedly was argumentative with school staff. The mother then came and retrieved the kids.
Records say officers did a welfare check at the Xenia Avenue home that day and determined the home had food, water and power and looked orderly. The dispatch log says the boyfriend was highly intoxicated but the mother was sober.
On the evening of June 10, a female called 911 for help from that address then hung up, according to dispatch records. When police called back, she said “Sorry my mistake” and declined police and paramedics. Officers did not visit the address, according to Dayton police.
Hershall’s mother Ashley Johnson told detectives her son died in late May, according to Dayton Municipal Court records.
On July 12, Kendrick called emergency dispatch to report that Hershall was missing and that someone allegedly snatched him. A recording of the 911 call revealed that Kendrick was slurring his words and sounded inebriated.
Credit: Source: Montgomery County Regional Dispatch
Kendrick later admitted Hershall had died weeks earlier, and Kendrick then led investigators to Hershall’s remains, which were dumped on a hill less than a quarter mile from his home, court records say.
Coroner investigative records say that the remains were found in a black plastic shopping bag on an embankment by the McClure Street overpass bridge. The bag was found in a large honeysuckle bush, and coroner photographs show that investigators recovered skeletal remains, including a skull and other bones.
Criminal charges
A grand jury indicted Kendrick on two counts of tampering with evidence and three counts of gross abuse of a corpse. Johnson is facing one count of obstructing justice in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
As of Thursday, Kendrick was being held on a $2 million bond in the Montgomery County Jail. Johnson’s bond was set at $250,000.
Michael Pentecost, Kendrick’s lawyer, said he has no comment about the case at this time.
Kendrick has a fairly lengthy criminal record that includes serious allegations of abuse and violence.
In the fall of 2009, Kendrick was arrested and charged with aggravated arson, a first-degree felony, after he threatened to set his mother’s house on fire and doused a rear section of the home with gas or lighter fluid, a Dayton police report states. He was 23 years old at the time, and his mother lived on Fernwood Avenue in the North Riverdale neighborhood.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
His mom said Kendrick got upset when she told him to leave because he was intoxicated, the report states. She told police she had custody of his young daughter (her granddaughter), but she allowed Kendrick to stay with her sometimes as long as he was not drunk or high because he had nowhere else to go.
He wanted to take his daughter and leave, but his mom would not let that happen. His mom told police she saw Kendrick light a fire that caused scorch marks on the foundation of the home.
Police interviewed Kendrick and he admitted to drinking heavily that day and taking pills, the police report states. He told police he wanted to seek counseling and rehab. He was convicted of aggravated arson, and a judge sentenced him to five years of probation.
Threats, violence
In March 2011, Dayton police were again called to Kendrick’s mother’s home on Fernwood Avenue. She said her son came home highly intoxicated and he got very upset when she told him to leave.
He allegedly told her, “You know that kid that just killed his mother; I am going to do that to you,” a police report states. He also allegedly threatened to hit his mom but instead punched a door. Police said Kendrick was clearly intoxicated when they spoke with him. However, his mother decided not to press charges, telling officers she did not want him to go to jail, the report states.
Two years later, in February 2013, police responded to a domestic violence call at his mom’s home. Police said when they arrived they saw Kendrick punching his mother in the face multiple times as her 8-year-old granddaughter screamed for help, a police report states.
Kendrick’s mom had bruising, swelling and blood on her face, and she told officers she almost lost consciousness during the attack. She was taken to the hospital for treatment.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
His mom told police Kendrick was throwing glass bottles and other things at her or her granddaughter, and he picked up a large kitchen knife after she called police for help.
Kendrick was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence in Dayton Municipal Court. Other charges of assault, aggravated menacing and resisting arrest were withdrawn. The Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office refused a felony assault charge, the police report states.
In November 2016, Kendrick was arrested after punching his mother in the face at a West Dayton home after she told him to leave, a police report states. He also spit on her multiple times. Kendrick was 30 years old.
Kendrick accused his mom of being the reason his daughter did not like him, and he vowed to get his daughter back from her, the report states.
Police officers who responded said Kendrick smelled like alcohol and appeared to be intoxicated. Kendrick was convicted of a first-degree misdemeanor charge of domestic violence and was sentenced to six months in jail.
Other incidents of violence
In March 2015, a woman called police after she received a phone call from Kendrick, her ex-boyfriend, a police report states. She told police Kendrick threatened to kill her and her children and damage her property. Kendrick was arrested and later convicted of a misdemeanor charge of criminal damaging after breaking a back window on her home.
In June 2018, a woman called Dayton police because she said she believed Kendrick may have assaulted her, says a police report.
She told police she struggled to remember what happened, but she believes Kendrick slammed her on her head and she blacked out. She said they got into an argument while he was drunk. She told police she did not want Kendrick to go to jail, but she hoped he would get help for his alcohol problem. In an interview with police, Kendrick denied harming the woman.
In February 2022, Dayton police officers who were on patrol on Edwin C. Moses Boulevard in West Dayton were flagged down by a female motorist, who identified herself as Kendrick’s sister.
His sister told police that she was driving Kendrick, his girlfriend Ashley Johnson and Kendrick’s daughter to their home on Xenia Avenue in East Dayton. She told police that Kendrick was drunk and was throwing punches in the vehicle and struck her in the face.
His sister also said Kendrick threatened to kill her if she asked police for help. Johnson told police she saw Kendrick swing at the other people in the car, but she did not know if the punches actually connected.
The police report says that Kendrick had two prior convictions of domestic violence, which potentially could enhance new criminal charges related to this incident to a felony. But detectives said they were unable to reach his sister later on when they tried to contact her, and the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office refused to file charges, the report states.
Kendrick also has past arrests and convictions for having a weapon under disability, stealing credit card information and trespassing at a homeless shelter for women and families in Dayton while he was intoxicated. In 2019, he was convicted of violating a protection order.
He also has been convicted of public intoxication multiple times, and Dayton police officers who interviewed Kendrick on other occasions noted that he smelled like alcohol or appeared to be very intoxicated, according to police reports.
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