Ohio Mother Charged With Aggravated Murder In Death Of Her 4-year-old Son

Prosecutors filed charges against a mother successful nan alleged execution of her 4-year-old son aft authorities said that "spiritual delusions" led her to propulsion nan boy into a Ohio lake.

Ruth Miller is facing 2 counts of aggravated murder, successful nan decease of her boy Vincen, who died successful Atwood Lake complete nan weekend, according to tribunal records. The charges stem from days of investigation aft authorities initially believed they were responding to an accident.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office Orvis Campbell told reporters Monday that rangers initially received calls astir 10:30 a.m. connected Saturday that a female and 3 teenagers were successful a play cart that flipped into nan water.

Witnesses told officials that group yelled astatine nan female driving to deed nan brakes, but nan cart yet deed a chromatic wall and nan cart flipped some mother and her children into nan water. Miller's 15-year-old and girl and copy 18-year-old sons, who were successful nan cart, were capable to get retired of nan h2o safely connected their own.

But Campbell said it became evident that Miller had intentionally driven into nan h2o pinch her children based connected concerning comments she made aft nan incident.

"There was a beautiful contiguous connection that she had 'given her boy to nan Lord,'" Campbell said, though it was not yet clear which son.

Additional questioning recovered that Miller's hubby and 4-year-old were missing. Campbell said location was first disorder connected wherever they were but that nan female kept saying she threw nan boy into nan h2o to springiness nan kid to God.

Miller told investigators that astir 6 a.m. that morning, she and her hubby jumped into nan reservoir "because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things, things to beryllium their worthiness to God," according to Campbell. Her hubby allegedly returned into nan reservoir aft they were done because he felt he hadn't performed good successful his task.

Witnesses said that astatine astir 8 a.m. they saw Miller driving nan play cart erratically pinch a young boy. Campbell said that Miller admitted to throwing 4-year-old Vincen into nan reservoir because she felt "that’s what she needed to do arsenic an offering to God."

"She believed that she and her hubby had to walk these tests to show their faith, and erstwhile they didn’t, past Vincen became nan value to salary for that," he said.

Authorities recovered nan bodies of Vincen and 45-year-old Marcus Miller astatine nan bottommost of Atwood Lake. Campbell believes that Vincen died trying to aquatics to a sandbar.

Because of her erratic statements, Campbell said that Miller was taken to a infirmary to beryllium evaluated.

"We’re alert of immoderate issues, particularly nan mother, but besides nan father. But location were ne'er immoderate discussions of harming anyone. They had immoderate belief beliefs. What we admit is this: She was intelligibly successful a intelligence crisis," he said. "And it conscionable simply manifested itself successful what we telephone a belief delusion."

In summation to nan 2 charges of aggravated murder, tribunal records show Miller is facing 2 charges of home unit and a complaint of kid endangerment. Miller could look life successful situation if convicted connected nan aggravated execution charges.

An arraignment scheduled for Thursday greeting has been canceled, according to tribunal records. It's unclear if Miller has retained an attorney.

The Tuscarawas County Prosecutor's Office told NBC connection WKYC that Miller was served a title but remained successful nan infirmary arsenic of Wednesday. The agency besides explained that nan 2 aggravated execution counts are successful Vincen's decease arsenic she allegedly acted pinch “prior calculation and design."