NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio — On Tuesday morning, Judge Michael Ernest is expected to read the verdict for Ruth Miller, the mother accused of drowning her 4-year-old son.
You can watch the verdict at 10 a.m.:
Miller, 40, was charged with murder, felonious assault, child endangerment, and domestic violence.
She chose a bench trial rather than a jury trial.
Miller's attorney entered a not guilty by reason of insanity plea on her behalf.
RELATED: 40-year-old mother accused of drowning child pleads not guilty by reason of insanity
If convicted on the aggravated murder charges, 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.
What happened?
In August 2025, the Miller family took a trip to Atwood Lake, during which, according to authorities, Ruth Miller and her husband, 45-year-old Marcus Miller, believed God was speaking to them, telling the couple to jump into the lake and perform various "tasks."
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 Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell. He decided to swim from the dock to the sandbar. Campbell said that was the last time Ruth Miller saw her husband.
Watch the sheriff's press conference:
Hours later, 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.
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 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.
Around 10:30 a.m., 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 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 that Ruth Miller tried to flee and hide but was easily located.
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, Campbell said. Marcus Miller's body was also recovered from the bottom of the lake.
