NEW PHILADELPHIA, Ohio (Court TV) — An Amish mother who was accused of murdering her 4-year-old son and attempting to harm her older children was found to be insane at the time of the slayings.
“Ruth Miller is not guilty by reason of insanity,” Judge Michael Ernest said in court on Tuesday. “I think that’s the only conclusion that can be reached.”
Ruth Miller appears in court on March 2, 2026. (Court TV)
Miller faced seven charges in connection with the deadly incident at Atwood Lake on Aug. 23, 2025. Police body camera from the scene showed her talking to officers and telling them that both her young son and husband were at the bottom of the lake, and “had been swallowed by a fish.” Police said that after drowning her 4-year-old, Miller then tried to hurt her three teenage children by driving a golf cart into the water with them on board.
Miller had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and opted for a bench trial, which meant that Judge Ernest was responsible for deciding her fate rather than a jury. With no opening statements, witnesses called or closing arguments, the judge relied on the evidence submitted to the court through reports authored by forensic psychologists and psychiatrists, witness statements and police body-worn camera.
Witness statements described Miller as having an “acute mental health crisis” in the days and weeks leading up to Aug. 23, which included “grandiose and delusional thinking” and a belief that God had asked her to be swallowed by a fish. Three mental health professionals who examined Miller agreed that she suffered from severe mental disease at the time of the incident.
While Miller was found not guilty by reason of insanity, she was not released from custody. She will remain in the county jail for the next 10 days, pending a hearing to determine her fate. That hearing will be held on March 13.
