Mother, boyfriend have next court hearing scheduled
Ashley Johnson, the boy’s mother, and Michael Kendrick, her boyfriend, were both charged in Dayton Municipal Court this week.
Johnson, 39, is facing one count of obstructing justice, and Kendrick was charged with three counts of tampering with evidence and one count of gross abuse of a corpse.
Kendrick has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Tuesday, and Johnson’s hearing was set for Thursday.
Around 3:45 a.m. Saturday, Kendrick called 911 and reported a man punched him and took Creachbaum, according to Montgomery County Regional Dispatch records.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
While investigating, Dayton police determined the boy hadn’t been kidnapped and may have been missing for several weeks.
They took Kendrick and Johnson to the Public Safety Building to be interviewed.
Johnson, 36, initially told detectives she saw Creachbaum playing with his 11-year-old sister the day before he was reported missing, according to court records.
“After speaking further with the mother, we learned that (the boy) was dead,” a detective wrote.
Johnson said Creachbaum, who was non-verbal with autism, died while she was in the hospital in late May.
Kendrick reportedly told Johnson the boy died from natural causes. She never saw him after she returned home, she told authorities.
“During an interview with Michael, he stated that while drinking and in an argument over the phone, he punched (the boy) in the head twice,” an affidavit read. “He then pushed him down, causing him to bounce off the floor and striking other parts of his body.”
Creachbaum reportedly died the next day.
Kendrick said he kept the boy’s body and put it in a deep freezer after it began to smell, according to court records. He used a suitcase to bring the boy to a grassy field.
After a few weeks, Kendrick reportedly returned and put the bones in a bag and left them on McClure Street.
Kendrick guided police to where the remains were, according to court records.
Formal identification of remains pending
Dayton police Chief Kamran Afzal said the remains are presumed to be Creachbaum.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office is working to confirm the identity. They’ll also determine the cause and manner of death.
We’ve reached out to the coroner’s office to see how long it could take to formally confirm the identity of the remains or the cause and manner of death.
More charges could be coming
During a press conference on Monday, Afzal said police are working with the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office and coroner’s office to investigate.
Additional charges may be filed pending the forensic examination of Creachbaum’s presumed remains.
The prosecutor’s office said a grand jury could hear Kendrick’s and Johnson’s cases on the charges that have been filed so far soon.
When asked about the chance of additional charges being filed, a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said it’s not a simple matter.
“There is a lot of additional investigation that needs to be completed, and that will take time,” said Greg Flannagan, public information officer for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
While the remains found on McClure Street are presumed to be those of Creachbaum, they need to be positively identified via DNA, he said.
The coroner’s office also needs to determine the cause and manner of death, if possible, Flannagan said.
“Additional charges are certainly possible, but that would depend on the additional investigation being completed and what the evidence shows,” he said.
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