Prosecutors filed charges against a mother in the alleged murder of her 4-year-old son after authorities said that “spiritual delusions” led her to throw the boy into a Ohio lake.
Ruth Miller is facing two counts of aggravated murder, in the death of her son Vincen, who died in Atwood Lake over the weekend, according to court records. The charges stem from days of investigation after authorities initially believed they were responding to an accident.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office Orvis Campbell told reporters Monday that rangers initially received calls around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday that a woman and three teenagers were in a golf cart that flipped into the water.
Witnesses told officials that people yelled at the woman driving to hit the brakes, but the cart eventually hit a stone wall and the cart flipped both mother and her children into the water. Miller’s 15-year-old and daughter and twin 18-year-old sons, who were in the cart, were able to get out of the water safely on their own.
But Campbell said it became evident that Miller had intentionally driven into the water with her children based on concerning comments she made after the incident.
“There was a pretty immediate statement that she had ‘given her son to the Lord,'” Campbell said, though it was not yet clear which son.
Additional questioning found that Miller’s husband and 4-year-old were missing. Campbell said there was initial confusion on where they were but that the woman kept saying she threw the boy into the water to give the child to God.
Miller told investigators that around 6 a.m. that morning, she and her husband jumped into the lake “because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things, things to prove their worthiness to God,” according to Campbell. Her husband allegedly returned into the lake after they were done because he felt he hadn’t performed well in his task.
Witnesses said that at around 8 a.m. they saw Miller driving the golf cart erratically with a young boy. Campbell said that Miller admitted to throwing 4-year-old Vincen into the lake because she felt “that’s what she needed to do as an offering to God.”
“She believed that she and her husband had to pass these tests to show their faith, and when they didn’t, then Vincen became the price to pay for that,” he said.
Authorities found the bodies of Vincen and 45-year-old Marcus Miller at the bottom of Atwood Lake. Campbell believes that Vincen died trying to swim to a sandbar.
Because of her erratic statements, Campbell said that Miller was taken to a hospital to be evaluated.
“We’re aware of some issues, especially the mother, but also the father. But there were never any discussions of harming anyone. They had some religious beliefs. What we recognize is this: She was clearly in a mental crisis,” he said. “And it just simply manifested itself in what we call a spiritual delusion.”
In addition to the two charges of aggravated murder, court records show Miller is facing two charges of domestic violence and a charge of child endangerment. Miller could face life in prison if convicted on the aggravated murder charges.
An arraignment scheduled for Thursday morning has been canceled, according to court records. It’s unclear if Miller has retained an attorney.
The Tuscarawas County Prosecutor’s Office told NBC affiliate WKYC that Miller was served a complaint but remained in the hospital as of Wednesday. The office also explained that the two aggravated murder counts are in Vincen’s death as she allegedly acted with “prior calculation and design.”
