Michael Kendrick

Introduction

Michael Kendrick, a 40-year-old Dayton man who was the boyfriend of a disabled 7-year-old boy’s mother, was sentenced to a combined 20 years to life in prison for the boy’s death and his elaborate attempt to hide it — a case that began with a false police report of a kidnapping and ended with skeletal remains recovered from trash bags near a Dayton overpass . Kendrick was caring for Hershall Creachbaum Jr — a nonverbal autistic boy with cerebral palsy who used a wheelchair — when the child died in May 2025 after Kendrick punched him in the head during a drunken argument and did nothing to get him medical care, according to court documents .

Background Information

Kendrick lived with Ashley Johnson, Hershall’s 37-year-old mother, and told detectives he had punched the boy twice in the head while arguing on the phone and drinking, then pushed him and struck other parts of his body; the child died in the shower the next day, suffering fractured ribs during the assault, and “as the child lay dying from the inflicted injuries, defendant did nothing to obtain medical care,” per the prosecutor’s office . Neither Kendrick nor Johnson reported the death; in interviews both admitted Hershall had died weeks earlier, and Johnson told detectives she believed at the time that he had died of natural causes while she was hospitalised for surgery . According to an affidavit, Kendrick kept the boy’s body in a deep freezer before placing it in a suitcase in a grassy field, then returned weeks later to recover the bones .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced: 20 years to life after guilty pleas to murder, corpse abuse, evidence tampering and child endangerment.

Around 3:45 a.m. on 12 July 2025, Kendrick called 911 to report that Hershall had been kidnapped from their home in the 400 block of Xenia Avenue, claiming a homeless man had beaten him unconscious and taken the boy and his wheelchair . Dayton detectives quickly determined no kidnapping had occurred — and that Hershall had not been seen for several weeks . Kendrick eventually led police to the child’s remains, found on 12 July 2025 in multiple black plastic bags concealed by brush in the 100 block of McClure Street, near railroad tracks by the U.S. 35 corridor . On 29 October 2026, days before his trial was to begin, Kendrick pleaded guilty to murder, two counts of tampering with evidence, three counts of gross abuse of a corpse and one count of endangering children .

Public Reaction and Consequences

At the 12 November 2026 sentencing before Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge E. Gerald Parker, Hershall’s family confronted Kendrick: his father said “No sentence or judgment will bring my son back,” and his grandmother’s statement, read by a family advocate, called him “a cold-blooded child killer that doesn’t deserve to be out here” . Given the chance to speak, Kendrick said little: “I wish I would have just called the cops. He was like a son to me. I’m sorry” . Lynda Dodd, criminal division chief of the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, called the outcome “as good as we could have gotten going to trial — a 100 percent good outcome for this case,” noting the 20-years-to-life term sits above the 15-years-to-life murder minimum because it folds in the other offences . Hershall’s aunt Karisma said the family felt they “got justice” even though she “wished he would have got more” .

Current Status

Kendrick is serving his 20-years-to-life sentence. Johnson — who has pleaded not guilty to gross abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and obstructing justice charges in connection with her son’s death — awaits trial, with a final pretrial hearing set for 19 November and trial scheduled to begin 30 November 2026 . Because both cases must resolve before Hershall’s remains are released, the family still cannot bury him; “When both cases are resolved, then the remains will be returned to the coroner’s office,” Dodd said . No appeal was reported in sentencing coverage .

Impact on Their Career/Life

Kendrick’s false-kidnapping report, weeks-long concealment of a child’s death and eventual plea leave him facing a minimum of two decades — and possibly the rest of his life — in an Ohio prison . The case circulated nationally through Court TV’s sentencing coverage and local broadcasts, with the image of a disabled 7-year-old kept in a freezer while his family searched for a boy police knew had never been kidnapped becoming the case’s defining detail . Community organisations mounted memorials at the McClure Street bridge where the remains were found, and the family’s pending burial of Hershall remains the case’s unresolved coda .

Sources

• “Man sentenced to 20 years to life in death of Hershall Creachbaum Jr.” — Dayton Daily News, November 2026: source
• “Michael Kendrick sentenced 20 years to life after killing Hershall Creachbaum Jr.” — WDTN, November 2026: source
• “‘He was like a son to me’: Man apologizes at sentencing for murdering 7-year-old with special needs” — Court TV, November 2026: source