A 40-year-old mother has been charged for allegedly killing her 4-year-old son during what the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office has called a mental health crisis, according to Sheriff Orvis L. Campbell.
On Wednesday, Ruth Miller of Millersburg was charged with the following:
- Two counts of aggravated murder
- Two counts of domestic violence
- One count of endangering children
If convicted on the aggravated murder charges, Ruth Miller could face a minimum of a life sentence with parole eligibility after 20 years and a maximum sentence of life without parole, the Tuscarawas County Prosecutor's Office said. The other charges are misdemeanors, each with a maximum sentence of 180 days' incarceration.
What happened
Over the weekend, a Holmes County family took a trip to Atwood Lake, during which Ruth Miller and her husband, 45-year-old Marcus Miller, began believing that God was speaking to the Amish couple, telling them to jump into the lake and perform different "tasks" early Saturday morning, Campbell told reporters earlier this week.
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After returning to their RV, Marcus Miller immediately went back to the lake because he felt he had not done well with his tasks, said the sheriff. Around 6:30 a.m., he decided to swim from the dock to the sandbar. Campbell said that was the last time Ruth Miller saw her husband.
Hours later, Ruth Miller put her 4-year-old son in a golf cart and began driving erratically. Campbell said that during interviews with law enforcement, she said she had "thrown the child into the water."
"There was a pretty immediate statement that she had given her son to the Lord," Campbell said Monday.
After she allegedly threw her son into the water, she went back to the RV multiple times to pick up her other three children, a 15-year-old daughter and two 18-year-old twin sons, and made them get into the lake and perform tasks similar to the ones Ruth Miller had done with her husband, Campbell said.
After they got out of the water, the mother made the teens lie on the dock with their hands in the water and pray for the 4-year-old and their father, Campbell said. Witnesses also saw the mother and the teens huddled together near the kayak launch, being emotional and praying together.
Then, around 10:30 a.m., Ruth Miller was driving erratically in the golf cart with the three teens just before she sped into the water, with the golf cart flipping off the edge of a stone wall, Campbell said.
The teens were able to get out of the cart safely from the water while witnesses helped the mother out of the water, Campbell said.
After first responders had conversations with Ruth Miller and the teens, they became worried about the safety of the 4-year-old boy and Marcus Miller, who could not be found, the sheriff's office said in a statement over the weekend. The sheriff said on Monday that Ruth Miller tried to flee and hide in the weeds but was easily located.
Ruth Miller was transported to a nearby hospital, and the teens were given over to family members, Campbell said.
The body of the 4-year-old boy was located at the bottom of the lake around 6 p.m. on Saturday, Campbell said. Marcus Miller's body was recovered from the bottom of the lake on Sunday morning.
RELATED: 4-year-old, 45-year-old found dead at the bottom of a Tuscarawas County lake
Ruth Miller currently remains hospitalized and will be turned over to law enforcement when she is discharged, the prosecutor's office said.
