However, police say earlier this month Kendrick led officers to what they believe are Hershall’s remains, and the 39-year-old allegedly admitted that the boy died a day after Kendrick struck and shoved him to the ground. Authorities say Kendrick admitted that he kept Hershall’s body in a freezer but later disposed of it, and his mother knew and lied about his death.
Kendrick, 38, has a long criminal record that includes domestic violence convictions and allegations involving his mother, sister and other family members, police and court records show.
The case has raised questions about whether there were any signs of trouble leading up to Hershall’s disappearance and reported death that might have indicated he was being mistreated or living in a bad or dangerous situation.
Living with grandma
Clark County Probate Court records show Missy Creachbaum applied for guardianship of her grandchildren in 2021. Her application said guardianship was necessary because the children’s biological mother and father have “substance abuse concerns” and they aren’t able to meet the kids’ basic needs.
An affidavit Creachbaum filed with the court says that the children had been living with her for years in a couple of different homes in Springfield. She was appointed guardian in March 2021, and every six months she had fill to out and submit minor guardian reports to probate court.
In a 2021 report, Creachbaum said the children’s mother was absent and their father left the state.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Documents from 2022 says neither parent “comes around.” Reports she filed in 2023 and early 2024 said the parents have no contact.
But in September 2024, Creachbaum filed a report that says both parents were in contact with the kids, and she was letting them visit.
Creachbaum told the Dayton Daily News that she, Hershall and his sister moved into their mother’s home on Xenia Avenue in June 2024, after she was unable to renew her lease in Springfield.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Creachbaum said Johnson and Kendrick, who also lived in the home, seemed to be very loving and good with the kids, and she didn’t see signs of problems.
On Nov. 8, 2024, Creachbaum was severely injured in a head-on automobile crash in German Twp. in Clark County.
She was hospitalized and required surgery, and she moved into a nursing home after she was discharged. Creachbaum said for a while she couldn’t walk or talk or perform basic tasks and was in no condition to take care of her grandchildren. Hershall had autism and cerebral palsy and was nonverbal.
Creachbaum, who still uses a mobility device and has trouble speaking clearly, told this news outlet that she wanted to move back into the Xenia Avenue home with her grandchildren. But she claims Johnson did not allow this to happen.
Creachbaum said she lived with friends in Springfield and recently moved to Columbus. She said she always planned to live with or near her grandchildren.
Clark County Probate Court records show the court dismissed Creachbaum’s guardianship of her grandchildren in May because she did not file the required minor guardian reports. Creachbaum told this news outlet she wasn’t aware of any paperwork issues. The probate court notices were mailed to a Springfield residence that Creachbaum listed as her address in her September 2024 guardian report.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Kendrick’s criminal history
Police think Hershall is dead and that they have recovered his remains. On July 12, Kendrick called 911 and claimed that an unknown stranger had taken Hershall. But authorities said Kendrick later in interviews admitted that Hershall died weeks ago, a day after he struck and pushed the boy down while he was drinking and arguing with someone on the phone.
Authorities say Kendrick admitted to storing Hershall’s body in a freezer in his home, but he later dumped the remains. Officials said Johnson originally claimed she saw Hershall the day before he was reported missing, but she later admitted that she knew he was dead.
She allegedly told authorities that Kendrick said his death was an accident, and that he died while she was in the hospital in May.
Johnson recently was charged with obstructing justice, a fifth degree felony, in Dayton Municipal Court. Kendrick has been arraigned on felony charges of tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. Additional charges could be forthcoming.
Kendrick has had a number of run-ins with law enforcement, and has been convicted of a variety of crimes, including domestic violence.
Domestic violence allegations
In February 2022, a female motorist flagged down Dayton police officers who were on patrol along Edwin C. Moses Boulevard and asked officers to remove someone from her vehicle, a police report states.
The report says the driver identified herself as Kendrick’s sister, and she said Kendrick, his daughter and his girlfriend, Ashley Johnson, were passengers in the vehicle. The sister’s and daughter’s names are redacted in the police report that the Dayton Daily News obtained.
Police said Kendrick was holding a bottle of liquor, and his sister told officers he was heavily intoxicated and he was cussing and arguing with her.
The sister told officers she was taking Kendrick, Johnson and the daughter to their home on Xenia Avenue when he started acting disorderly. She said Kendrick attempted to throw multiple punches while in the vehicle, and he hit one of them in the face and made threats. Since the police report is redacted it’s not clear whom he allegedly struck.
The sister told police Kendrick threatened to kill her if she waved down the officers.
Johnson later told police she saw Kendrick swinging at other occupants in the vehicle, but she did not know if his punches actually connected. Johnson told police she and Kendrick had been together for 10 years.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Police arrested Kendrick for domestic violence. However, police said they could not get ahold of the victim when they tried to contact her later. Charges were refused by the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
The police report says Kendrick was convicted of domestic violence previously in 2013 and 2016.
In 2016, he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of domestic violence against his mother, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records. His mother died in January 2022.
Kendrick was sentenced to six months in jail in the case, and was ordered not to have contact with his mother for some period of time.
In 2013, police were dispatched to a Dayton home on a domestic violence call after receiving a report that Kendrick was accused of beating an 8-year-old girl, a police report states. Police said he allegedly was throwing glass bottles around and made threats while carrying a knife.
Years earlier, in 2009, then-23-year-old Kendrick was convicted of aggravated arson, and court records say his actions presented a serious risk of physical harm to his mother. Court records indicate he was placed on up to five years of probation, ordered to pay restitution and was ordered not to come within 1,000 feet of his mother and another victim until his probation officer gave the OK. Court records say he was only allowed to have contact with his mother and his daughter on Christmas Day.
In 2016, the same year he pleaded guilty to domestic violence, he also pleaded guilty to a felony charge of theft. He was sentenced to five years of probation, but he was later imprisoned for 10 months for violating the conditions of probation. He failed to comply with multiple conditions, including a requirement that he abstain from alcohol and drugs.
He also was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of unauthorized use of motor vehicle in 2018 (punishment: 5 days in jail), and felony charges of burglary and having weapons under disability in 2020 (up to five years of probation in both cases).
Also in 2020, he was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of aggravated trespassing related to an incident that occurred at the homeless shelter for women and children in Dayton.
Kendrick in the past also has been charged with public intoxication, intoxicated driving, disorderly conduct and criminal damaging. In multiple police reports, the officers who interviewed Kendrick or took his witness statements said he appeared to be highly intoxicated.
Children Services has taken custody of Hershall’s 11-year-old sister, but Creachbaum says she wants to be the girl’s guardian.
Creachbaum also told the Dayton Daily News that she believes that Children Services may have been contacted earlier this year by staff at her grandchildren’s school, Ruskin Elementary, because they were worried about potential signs of neglect. However, she said she heard this secondhand.
Creachbaum said she was not aware of Kendrick’s substantial criminal record until after Hershall was reported missing.
Dayton Public Schools Superintendent David Lawrence said school district employees must report any suspected abuse or neglect to Children Services.
“As this specific matter is an active police investigation, we are not at liberty to disclose any additional details related to the student at this time,” he said. “Once the investigation concludes and the district’s attorneys clear us to comment further on the matter, we would be happy to do so.”
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