Amish Mother Ruth R. Miller Charged With Aggravated Murder In Death Of 4-Year-Old Son At Lake (UPDATE: Arraignment “Cancelled Until Further Notice”)

As expected, the Amish mother who allegedly threw her 4-year-old son into the water of a lake, “as an offering to God”, has been charged with aggravated murder.

Her name has also been revealed as Ruth R. Miller, 40, of Millersburg, Ohio.

Many people have already known her identity for several days, but with the charges, the name can now be officially publicly disclosed.

The Charges

Ruth R. Miller faces multiple charges. According to court documents, she has been charged with the following:

• Two counts of aggravated murder
• Two counts of domestic violence
• One count of endangering children

The endangering children charge I am guessing would apply to her actions with her older children in the golf cart, which she allegedly drove in a reckless and dangerous manner, intentionally driving into the lake.

But looking at the most serious charges, what might be surprising here is that she’s actually been charged with two counts of aggravated murder.

According to investigators, Ruth’s husband Marcus J. Miller also died Saturday at Atwood Lake, after he made the decision to attempt to “prove his faith” by swimming out into deep waters of the lake.

The couple were said to be experiencing what’s been termed “spiritual delusion”.

One important thing I want to note here: with the way some headlines and stories are written, the two murder charges, coupled with two deaths having happened, may give the impression that she is being charged with his murder too.

However, though few details on the charges have actually been released, I don’t believe that to be the case.

I checked public records at New Philadelphia Municipal Court (where she will be arraigned tomorrow), and the documents there give few details beyond listing the actual charges.

They don’t indicate who the charge is in regard to, as you can see here, and in the docket entry below:

The docket entry:

It is in fact, apparently possible to have multiple charges of murder for the death of just one person. Here is a response to a question (regarding a different case, but similar situation) from a criminal defense attorney named Joshua Sachs:

Your state’s statute may define several different ways in which murder can be committed, typically involving different states of mind (i.e., intentional murder; knowing, but not intentional, murder; murder by a reckless act; murder by a killing during the course of another felony; etc etc etc depending on your state law).

The prosecutor will charge any of these variations that could possibly apply, not knowing at this early stage of the case what the evidence will actually establish or what the jury might believe.

So yes, multiple counts of murder for the death of one person are quite normal. Ultimately, if there are findings of “guilty” on more than one count they would probably be merged in a single murder conviction. But your state’s law and practice control how this is done.

So based on that answer, it sounds like it is done in some sense to “cover bases” in what can be legally applied in making a case, especially since it’s an early stage and more evidence and information is likely to be gathered.

I’m not going to speculate further down that road at this time. I’ll just add that during Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell’s extended press conference Monday, at one point he was asked if Ruth could potentially face charges for her husband’s death.

The Sheriff really seemed to downplay that idea, when asked by a reporter a question (which was somewhat inaudible, but what sounded like about her having responsibility for his death):

“No…I think we are far from ever proving that. He’s his own man, and if he came to those beliefs that he needed to go make that swim…I don’t think so.”

So I might be wrong, but I would be surprised if she is charged with murder in the death of her husband, who by all accounts acted of his own will.

Even if she had encouraged him to go out into the lake, he is an adult, in full possession of all his faculties. So it doesn’t seem like a situation where murder could even apply. And again, as I periodically remind when there’s a legal topic, I have no legal background so take this with a grain of salt, but that’s my thinking.

I thought this was worth addressing, because I can see how some could (understandably) be led to think at this point that she’s being charged with murder of both son and husband, given the two murder charges.

Ruth Miller’s arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow at 10 AM at New Philadelphia Municipal Court.

Update: Arraignment “Cancelled Until Further Notice”

Though scheduled for today (August 28), Ruth Miller’s arraignment was cancelled, according to New Philadelphia Municipal Court documents. The case docket update simply reads:

CANCELED- 08-28-2025 AT 10:00 AM – ARRAIGNMENT
REASON: CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

No further explanation was given.

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