Ruth Miller: Amish mum allegedly says she ‘gave him to God’ after being charged with drowning 4yo son in Ohio

Police have released footage of the moment a woman allegedly admitted to drowning her four-year-old son in a lake, hours after her husband went missing while trying to prove his worthiness to God.

Ruth Miller, a 40-year-old Amish mother, can be seen speaking to sheriff’s officers in the US and telling them she wanted to “give him to God” as they questioned her about a bizarre string of events that led to her child, Vincen Miller’s, death.

A rural campground in Ohio was thrown into chaos on the morning of August 23, after Miller’s husband, Marcus Miller, 45, told his wife he was going to test his faith for God by jumping into Atwood Lake and swimming out as far as he could, before he disappeared in the water.

Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s deputies then arrived at the scene after reports that a golf cart carrying a family had speared off a jetty and into the water.

When they arrived, they found Ms Miller being led toward them by her two adult sons and her daughter after leaving the water following the crash.

“I gave him to God. I threw him into the lake and gave him to God,’ Miller can be heard saying to the officers via their body camera units.

“People are going to tell me that I am crazy, but he is real and he loves you, he really does love you.

“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.”

Her ramblings increased as she was then questioned about the circumstances surrounding her husband’s whereabouts.

She claimed her husband was swallowed by a fish, and asked people to go down to the “bottom of the lake, looking for a fish.”

As the sheriff pressed the woman for answers about her son’s death following the golf cart crash, Miller said, “he’s sweet and I love him”, and added, “this is a miracle from God, you will see” about her husband’s death.

Police divers commenced dragging the lake for bodies before Miller can be heard saying “the miracles are true. We doubted too, but they are true”.

Miller has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, murder, felonious assault, child endangerment and three counts of domestic violence by reason of insanity.

“Based upon the facts ... this case would not have happened but for a mental defect that would have prevented Ms Miller from appreciating the wrongfulness of her conduct,’ her defence attorney Ian Friedman said.

“There clearly was a serious mental disease that she faced.

“It was evident to the first responding officers, and unfortunately, it was a tragedy that happened that day.”

Investigators informed the court that Miller was experiencing “spiritual disillusion” when the officers arrived at the scene, and both she and her husband believed God was speaking to them and had instructed them to carry out ritualistic tasks.

“The most bizarre was that God told her to allow herself to be swallowed by a fish, as bizarre as that sounds,” Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said.

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.

Vincen’s body was found at around 6pm, following the discovery of his father’s body in the same part of the lake, and police believe both drowned accidentally while trying to prove their faith in God.

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.

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 did 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 said.

“The ministry and extended family had been walking with them through their challenges, and they had also received professional help in the past.”