Mother accused of murdering her child moved to jail
NEW PHILADELPHIA – The mother charged with murder in the drowning death of her 4-year-old son at Atwood Lake is in the Tuscarawas County Jail.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell says 40-year-old Ruth Miller of Millersburg was moved to the jail from a hospital on Monday.
No bail has been established. A bail hearing scheduled for this morning was continued until Friday at 9 a.m., but it could be cancelled if the Grand Jury indicts Miller before then.
Miller is accused of throwing her son off of a dock into Atwood Lake early in the morning on Saturday, Aug. 23. Diving teams found his body later that afternoon.
Campbell says Miller told investigators she threw the boy in the water as an offering to God.
The body of Miller’s husband, 45-year-old Marcus Miller – was also pulled from the Lake the next day. Campbell says investigators believe his death was accidental. Authorities believe prior to the boy’s drowning, the father attempted to swim from the same dock to a sandbar but drowned.
Ruth Miller later drove a golf cart into the lake with her three other children as passengers. They were not hurt.
Miller is facing initial charges of aggravated murder for the death of her 4-year-old son, and domestic violence and endangering children for driving the golf cart into the lake. Campbell has said she was experiencing a mental health crisis that weekend that led to spiritual delusions.