The lawsuit claims the agencies didn’t take action to protect the boy or investigate the reports, which failed their legal duties to provide oversight and intervention. Attorneys for Hershall’s estate say his death was preventable.
Clark County Administrator Jenny Hutchinson said the county has no comment at this time. Montgomery County officials did not immediately return a request for comment.
The death
Dayton police launched an investigation on July 12 when Michael Kendrick called 911 to say someone had taken Hershall. Kendrick was in a relationship with Hershall’s mother, Ashley Johnson.
Kendrick allegedly later admitted that Hershall died weeks earlier and he led investigators to the boy’s remains, which were dumped on a hill less than a quarter of a mile from his home, according to Dayton Municipal Court records.
In court records, investigators say Kendrick admitted that Hershall died a day after he punched and shoved the boy to the ground. Kendrick reportedly had been drinking and got into an argument on the phone.
Kendrick allegedly put Hershall’s body in a deep freezer, but later stuffed him into a suitcase that he left in a grassy field, court records state. Kendrick then allegedly collected the boy’s bones and dumped the remains on a hill next to a bridge a short walk from his Xenia Avenue home in East Dayton.
Hershall’s mother told police that her son died in late May, court records state.
The investigation
Police dispatch and call records show that staff at Ruskin Elementary in East Dayton requested welfare checks for Hershall or his sister in April after Kendrick appeared to be intoxicated when he brought the kids to school and tried to pick them up the next day.
A caller said Hershall was covered in urine when he arrived at school.
“Their guardian left them in the care of their bio mom and there’s just signs of neglect,” said a staff member, according to dispatch records. “I’ve called it into (Children Services) multiple times and today they asked me to do a well check with the police department.”
Children Services “said they can’t do anything about it,” the caller said. “It’s caught up between counties because his guardian lives in Clark County. (Redacted) said that they are often without food.”
Creachbaum’s paternal grandmother, who lived in Clark County, was his and his sister’s legal guardian. But the kids moved in with their mom and her boyfriend in East Dayton, and the grandmother stopped living with them after she was badly injured in an automobile crash.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
In the legal complaint, Creachbaum’s estate alleges that Children Services agencies did not attempt to make contact with the boy or school staff, despite receiving multiple reports that raised concerns about his safety. The complaint says Children Services agencies also failed to fulfill requirements for reporting, screening, assessing and investigating potential child abuse.
A grand jury indicted Kendrick on two counts of tampering with evidence and three counts of gross abuse of a corpse in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court. Johnson was charged with one count of obstructing justice.
Officials say additional charges could be forthcoming. Kendrick currently is in Montgomery County Jail on a $2 million bond; Johnson is being held on a $250,000 bond.
A Dayton Daily News review of police and court records found that Kendrick had a long history of violence, threats and intoxicated abusive behavior, including allegations that he attacked other family members.
Creachbaum’s estate is being represented by Michael Wright and Robert Gresham of Wright & Schulte, who also represented the estate of Takoda Collins. Collins, 10, died in 2019 after years of abuse that Wright said should have been stopped and addressed by Children Services.
