‘I gave him to God’: Amish mother found not guilty by reason of insanity in 4-year-old son’s drowning death

TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, Ohio (TCN) -- An Amish woman who drowned her 4-year-old son in 2025 has been found not guilty by reason of insanity based on two police reports and three mental health evaluations.

WOIO reports Ruth Miller, 40, and her husband, 45-year-old Marcus Miller, brought their family to a lake in August 2025. The couple reportedly believed they were given tasks by God they had to complete to prove their faith. Ruth Miller had not been sleeping well and had reportedly asked her husband to suffocate her.

At the lake, the couple jumped into the water at about 1 a.m. and then returned to the campground, where Marcus Miller told his wife he was going back to the water. He did not return.

At about 8:30 a.m., Ruth Miller reportedly took her son, Vincen Miller, to the lake, and drowned him. Later that morning, she put her 18-year-old twin sons and 15-year-old daughter into a golf cart and drove them into the lake; the teens were not injured and exited the water on their own, according to WOIO. 

Police were alerted after the golf cart crash, per WOIO. Ruth Miller was reportedly acting erratically and officers then learned Vincen Miller and Marcus Miller were missing. Miller reportedly told responding officers, “I threw [Vincen] in the lake and I gave him to God.” 

The 4-year-old’s body was discovered at the bottom of the lake that day along with Marcus Miller’s. According to authorities, Marcus Miller drowned after attempting to swim to a sandbar in what he believed was a faith-related test.

Ruth Miller was placed in a secure mental health facility from Aug. 23 to Sept. 1, 2025, WKYC reports. She was charged with two counts of aggravated murder, two counts of domestic violence, and one count of endangering children, and was booked into jail on Sept. 1, 2025.

She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and opted for a bench trial, meaning a judge would decide her fate instead of a jury, Court TV reports.

Judge Michael Ernest said the three psychiatrists who evaluated Miller reached the same conclusion, WOIO reports: “They all concluded that you suffered from some form of mental disease that prevented you from knowing the wrongfulness of your conduct,” he told Miller in court. 

Witness statements submitted to the court stated that in the weeks leading up to Vincen Miller’s death, Miller was in the midst of an “acute mental health crisis,” Court TV reports. According to WKYC, family members had tried to intervene on Aug. 21, 2025, after getting a concerning phone call, but they did not believe she or her husband would hurt anyone.

CBS News reported the Millers lived in an Amish community about 82 miles from the lake at the time of the incident. According to the outlet, their church released a statement that said Miller’s actions “do not reflect our teachings or beliefs but are instead a result of a mental illness. The ministry and extended family had been walking with them through their challenges, and they had also received professional help in the past.”

Miller was indicted on seven counts related to Vincen Miller’s death, including murder, aggravated murder, felonious assault, and domestic violence, WOIO reports. She will be placed in a psychiatric facility and must be re-evaluated every three years.

Miller’s placement hearing is scheduled for March 13, according to WOIO. Court TV reports that she will remain in custody until then.

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