Mother charged with aggravated murder in son’s drowning death at Atwood Lake
NEW PHILADELPHIA – The Tuscarawas County Prosecutor’s office has formally charged 40-year-old Ruth Miller of Millersburg with aggravated murder, domestic violence and endangering children after authorities say she drown her 4-year-old son and drove her three teen-age children into Atwood Lake on a golf cart Saturday morning.
The woman’s husband – 45-year-old Marcus J. Miller – also drown in the lake that day, but officials say that was accidental. Sheriff Orvis Campbell said it was a complicated, confusing and tragic case. He says the mother was experiencing a mental health crisis and a “spiritual delusion.” She told investigators she threw her son in the water as an offering to God.
Campbell says she also heard a voice tell her to drive into the lake. The teens were not hurt and are now in the care of extended family.
Authorities say the woman is locked in a mental health facility.
Campbell says the father likely died before the son. He believes the man attempted to swim out from the dock as a test of his faith but did not return. His body was found 53 yards from the dock Sunday morning. The boy’s body was found near the dock Saturday afternoon.
The family is Amish. Campbell says their extended family and church were just as shocked by what happened as everybody else.
Ruth Miller is formally charged with two counts of felony aggravated murder, two counts of domestic violence and one count of endangering children. Campbell had said she would be charged for her son’s death, but not her husband’s. We have reached out to officials for more information.