Amish mom charged with murder after throwing 4-year-old son into Ohio lake to prove “worthiness to God,” police say

An Amish woman who told authorities she was testing her faith when she threw her 4-year-old son into an Ohio lake was charged Wednesday with two counts of aggravated murder in the boy’s death.

Authorities said Ruth R. Miller, 40, of Millersburg, Ohio, told investigators she believed she was acting at the direction of God when she allegedly killed her son Vincen at Atwood Lake early Saturday.

The lead investigator with the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office, Capt. Adam Fisher, said Wednesday that Ruth Miller repeatedly said in interviews with police that she threw the boy off the dock and into the water to give him to God.

“It did not appear that the gravity of the situation had sunk in,” Fisher said.

The woman’s husband, Marcus J. Miller, 45, had apparently drowned while attempting to swim to an offshore sandbank hours earlier in another test of faith, Sheriff Orvis Campbell told reporters at a news conference Monday. Their other children, a 15-year-old girl and twin 18-year-old boys, were also directed to perform water-based trials of their belief but survived, Campbell said.

New Philadelphia Municipal Court online records indicate Ruth Miller was also charged with domestic violence and child endangerment regarding the older children. Authorities said Ruth Miller was receiving treatment at a secure mental health facility and had not been arrested by late Wednesday afternoon. A message seeking comment was left for her attorney, Scott Fromson.

When first responders began to treat Ruth Miller, she was allegedly making concerning statements, CBS affiliate WOIO-TV reported.

As deputies questioned her, Campbell said the mother spoke about placing her son in the water, “to give him to God,” the station reported.

She also attempted to run from deputies and hide in a bush, WOIO reported, citing police.

Family members and the Millers’ church said in a statement that the deaths “do not reflect our teachings or beliefs but are instead a result of a mental illness….