Shocking body camera footage shows an Amish mother admitting she drowned her four-year-old son to ‘give him to God.’
Ruth Miller, 40, was taken into custody last week after the drowning of her four-year-old son, Vincen Miller, who was thrown into a lake in rural Ohio on the morning of August 23.
Her spouse, Marcus Miller, 45, was discovered dead earlier in the day at around 8:30 a.m. after he informed his wife that he needed to undergo a supposed test of faith by leaping into the lake and swimming as far as possible.
Deputies from the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a boat dock at a campground on Atwood Lake following reports of a golf cart carrying a woman and three children crashing into the water.
Upon arrival, deputies found Miller being escorted by her two adult sons, who, along with Miller and her daughter, survived the golf cart accident.
As soon as the deputies approached, Miller admitted: ‘I gave him to God. I threw him into the lake and gave him to God.’
‘People are going to tell me that I am crazy, but he is real and he loves you, he really does love you,’ the mother of four said as she placed her hand on the shoulder of one of the deputies.
‘And I have doubted him so many times, but I have to tell you that he is coming soon. He is coming very soon, prepare your hearts. The end is close.’
She then went on to claim that her husband was swallowed by a fish, as she asked the deputies to go send people down to the bottom of the lake, looking for a fish.’
Ruth Miller, 40, was arrested Tuesday following the drowning death of her four-year-old son Vincen Miller. Her husband, Marcus Miller, 45, after he allegedly jumped in the water to ‘test his faith’ earlier that day
Shocking body camera footage shows Miller insisting she drowned her four-year-old son to ‘give him to God’
When authorities then tried to get her to talk about the young son she had drowned, Miller said, ‘He’s sweet and I love him.’
‘This is a miracle from God, you will see,’ she tells deputies when they ask her about the whereabouts of her husband.
As authorities then dispatched a dive team to the lake, two women were seen trying to comfort Miller, who once again insists: ‘The miracles are true.
‘We doubted too, but they are true.’
Miller has now pleaded not guilty to killing her son by reason of insanity, according to News 5 Cleveland.
Police say both she and her husband believed God was speaking to them and had instructed them to carry out ritualistic tasks to ‘prove their worthiness’, deputies said.
When asked what their beliefs entailed, Miller gave them a series of examples, including one which was particularly ‘bizarre,’ Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said.
Miller is accused of driving a golf cart into a lake in Atwood (pictured) with her son and three other kids onboard
‘The most bizarre was that God told her to allow herself to be swallowed by a fish, as bizarre as that sounds,’ Campbell recalled.
The sheriff said Miller also said that sometimes she and her husband would participate in ‘swimming exercises.’
‘Things to prove their worthiness to God, to show their faith is complete, and they didn’t do very well in those,’ he added.
The Millers first jumped off the dock around 1am on Saturday, August 23 as part of the alleged test of faith, but later returned to their campsite, believing they failed to complete the task.
The wife later told detectives her husband was upset he failed his task ‘because he didn’t have enough faith’ – leading him to try again on his own.
Detectives do not believe Marcus was involved in the death of his son or participated in his wife’s alleged actions with their three other children.
Police believe Vincen likely drowned accidentally while trying to prove his faith like his parents.
They also believe Marcus accidently drowned.
The mother is also accused of forcing her three other children, a 15-year-old daughter and 18-year-old twin sons, into Atwood Lake at different times throughout the weekend.
The teens escaped the water on their own and were not injured in the golf cart incident.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said Miller also told police that sometimes she and her husband would participate in ‘swimming exercises’
A search and rescue crew (pictured at the scene) located Vincen Miller’s body in the water around 6pm Saturday. His father Marcus Miller’s body was found in the same area of Atwood Lake the next morning around 8.30am
She also spoke about putting her son in the water as a sacrifice to God and reportedly admitted to running from police and hiding in a bush.
Following the tragedy, Miller was hospitalized for mental health concerns.
Her older children were released to other family members and are understood to be ‘devastated’ by the tragedy.
Vincen’s lifeless body was found in the water around 6pm, with his father being found in the same hour some 12 hours before.
The Tuscarawas County coroner will conduct autopsies to determine their cause of death.
Investigators say no weapons were discovered at the Miller family’s campsite or any evidence of drug use. Police did however find an open Bible at the site.
Investigators (pictured at the campground) say no weapons were discovered at the Miller family’s campsite or any evidence of drug use. Police did however find an open Bible at the site
The Old Order Amish Church and the extended Miller family issued a statement to WOIO confirming the couple were ‘misinterpreting passages of the Bible’ and that their actions do not reflect the church’s teachings.
‘As a church of Christian faith, we believe that we are saved by grace, through faith in Christ, and the events of this past weekend do not reflect our teachings or beliefs but are instead a result of a mental illness,’ the statement read in part.
‘The ministry and extended family had been walking with them through their challenges, and they had also received professional help in the past.’
The church thanked law enforcement and rescuers for their response and is now focusing on the ‘family directly affected’ by the tragedy.
