TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, Ohio – An Amish woman accused of drowning her 4-year-old son at Atwood Lake has been indicted by a Tuscarawas County grand jury on seven charges, including aggravated murder, according to reports.
Ruth R. Miller, 40, of Millersburg, faces seven counts including one count of aggravated murder, one count of murder, and one count of felonious assault in connection with the death of her 4-year-old son, Vincen Miller. She is also charged with one count of child endangering for her 15-year-old daughter and three counts of domestic violence involving her daughter and 18-year-old twin sons. She allegedly crashed a golf cart into the lake with the teens aboard. Those children survived.
Miller remains in the Tuscarawas County Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Sept. 8, before Judge Michael J. Ernest. Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Styer said that if convicted, Miller faces a sentence ranging from life in prison with parole eligibility after 20 years to life without parole.
Sheriff Orvis Campbell said the case stems from an incident on Aug. 23, when Ruth and her husband Marcus Miller, 45, took their family from Holmes County to Atwood Lake. Around 1 a.m., the couple, reportedly under what Campbell described as a “spiritual delusion,” entered the water after believing they were following instructions from God to prove their faith.
Later that morning, at approximately 8:30 a.m., Ruth Miller allegedly placed her son on a golf cart, drove him to the dock, and drowned him.
Family members and the Millers’ church released a statement saying the tragedy “does not reflect our teachings or beliefs but are instead a result of a mental illness. The ministry and extended family had been walking with them through their challenges, and they had also received professional help in the past.”
Authorities say the investigation also uncovered allegations of abuse involving Miller’s teenage children, leading to the additional charges of child endangering and domestic violence.
Ruth Miller had been hospitalized at a mental health facility before she was released and booked into the Tuscarawas County jail on Monday.
