DAYTON — Lawyers for Michael Kendrick made a last-minute plea to have his statements to police thrown out and not used at a possible trial.
Kendrick and his girlfriend, Ashley Johnson, are facing charges in connection with the death of her son, 7-year-old Hershall Creachbaum. Police found the child’s remains near the McClure Street bridge in July 2025.
Prosecutors charged Michael Kendrick with tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse in connection with the autistic and non-verbal 7-year-old.
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According to police, they believe Kendrick was intoxicated when they responded to a 911 call the couple made. Now, his lawyers claim that is exactly why anything he said should be disregarded and thrown out.
On the body cam video, the night the 911 call was made, officers observed Kendrick slurring his words, staggering when he walked, and believed he was intoxicated. Officers asked him questions then, and when he was placed in a cruiser and again at the safety building.
Officers read Kendrick his Miranda Rights at the Safety Building before interviewing him. However, his attorneys now claim that even then, “Statements were involuntary and made without an accurate understanding and waiver of constitutional right,” and that the “Incriminating statements must be suppressed.”
Creachbaum’s mother was also at the house that day. She also faced questioning in several locations, and video interviews showed police reading her Miranda Rights.
Investigators insisted she agreed to speak with them, never asked for an attorney, and even helped search for Hershall’s remains in one location. But her attorney claims that the most important questions, which invalidate her statements to police, were not asked.
Prosectors have a very different view. They filed reports insisting that police handled things lawfully, including the questioning of Kendrick and Johnson, and that everything they said should be allowed in a trial and shown to a jury.
The judge is expected to make a ruling in a few days to a few weeks.
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