In disturbing body cam footage, Amish mother Ruth Miller unsettlingly tells officers that she “feels near the end” after surrendering her 4-year-old son “to God” at Lake Ohio.
On August 23rd, deputies from the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call regarding a golf cart that had been driven into the water, along with a woman and three children.
The acquired footage shows Miller, 40, explaining to two deputies that tossing her sons into the lake is not “crazy,” as they escort her two adult sons away from the scene.
“I threw him into the lake, and I gave him to God,” Ruth informs the officer, sounding rather isolated during the exchange.
“He is sweet, and I love him, but I gave him to God,” she adds, her voice tense.
Then, expressing a kind of urgency, she places her hand on one officer’s arm, mentioning several times her “suspicion” of God and that he “comes soon.”
“Prepare your heart. The end is nearing. And I’m supposed to tell you that he loves you. Are you okay?” she asks, almost in a pleading tone.
An officer inquires about how she ended up in the water.
“I gave my son to God,” she responds curtly.
The officer later asks about her husband, Marcus J. Miller, to which she replies that he had gone for a walk earlier that morning and “I’ll never come back.”
As additional deputies arrive, she insists that she can locate her husband among the fish at the lake’s bottom.
While officers seek the exact spot where her husband might be, she urges them to bring in the “best” diver to search for him and her son, whom she insists is “with God.”
Eventually, paramedics escort Miller away. The footage captures her praying with a medic.
Later that day, divers recovered the bodies of both her husband and 4-year-old son from the submerged lake, according to Sheriff Orvis Campbell at a press conference.
Officials noted that both Miller and her husband were experiencing what they termed a “spiritual delusion,” believing that God was communicating with them, leading them to jump into the lake as a “test of faith.”
After Miller swam and returned to the campsite, her husband reportedly said he would go back into the lake.
Witnesses indicated that he was seen alive in the water around 6:30 a.m.
Miller later confided to the detective that she felt her husband had “failed his job” due to insufficient faith, expressing distress over his failure.
The police reported that about two hours after her husband returned to the water, Ruth drove her 4-year-old son in a golf cart recklessly around the campsite before throwing him into the lake.
Soon after that, she drove the golf cart back to the lake with her three other children, which included a 15-year-old daughter and her 18-year-old twin sons.
Currently, authorities are providing care for the other children.
Miller faces multiple charges, including two counts of aggravated murder and child endangerment, as per court records.
Following the heartbreaking events, she was taken to a safe hospital before being transferred to the Tuscarawas County Jail.
In a court hearing, she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Her lawyer, Ian N. Friedman, mentioned recently that the focus of the defense would be on her serious mental health issues that may have driven her actions.
“We expect this case to center on whether Ruth is guilty on the grounds of insanity, and we believe she will be,” he stated.
A bond hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. on September 25th.
