An Amish mother, identified as Ruth Miller, 40, has been taken into custody following a tragic incident involving the drowning of her four-year-old son, Vincent Miller, and a harrowing ordeal with her three older children at Lake Atwood in Ohio. The distressing events unfolded on August 23, leading to Ruth being charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of domestic violence, and one count of child endangerment.
Allegedly motivated by a belief that she needed to prove her worthiness to God by being “swallowed by a fish,” Ruth admitted to intentionally drowning her youngest child and attempting to do the same to her teenage children after what she described as a conversation with God. Sheriff Orvis Campbell of the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office disclosed that Ruth exhibited signs of “spiritual delusion.”
The tragic series of events began when Ruth and her husband, Marcus, 45, were staying at Lake Atwood and decided to follow tasks instructed by what Ruth believed to be divine guidance. After Marcus tragically drowned while trying to demonstrate his faith, Ruth drove Vincent to the lake and left him in the water, believing she was fulfilling a divine purpose.
Witnesses at the lake observed Ruth and her older children in distress before witnessing her drive a golf cart into a stone wall and then into the lake. Despite the children surviving the ordeal, Ruth refused assistance and insisted on remaining in the water, claiming she could walk on it.
Following her hospitalization, Ruth’s surviving children were placed in the care of relatives, while the bodies of her son and husband were recovered from the lake after an extensive search. Ruth was released from the hospital on September 1 and subsequently accommodated in the Tuscarawas County Jail.
Ruth’s attorney, Ian N. Friedman, emphasized that Ruth was suffering from a severe mental ailment during the tragic incident, which impaired her ability to comprehend the gravity of her actions. He indicated that the legal proceedings would likely focus on Ruth’s mental state and the possibility of a plea of Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity.
The case has brought to light a deeply disturbing situation involving a mother’s mental health challenges and the tragic loss of lives within the family.
