An Old Order Amish mother in Ohio was charged with aggravated murder after throwing her 4-year-old son into a lake as an offering to God. Her husband drowned earlier that morning when investigators believe he swam a lengthy distance in an attempt to prove his faith.

Ruth Miller, 40, of Millersburg was arrested Aug. 23 at Atwood Lake in Tuscarawas County and hospitalized for mental health concerns after park rangers responded to a report that she crashed a golf cart with her three older children into the lake. Divers found the body of her husband, Marcus J. Miller, 45, the following morning.

WKYC Cleveland reported Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell said in a press conference that Ruth Miller was making troubling comments about speaking with God when responders pulled her from the water.

“There was a pretty immediate statement made that she had given her son to the Lord,” he said. “. . . This was a husband very devoted to his wife. I think they were also devoted to the Bible, and that just manifested itself incorrectly. I don’t think there’s making a lot of common sense out of it.”

The family’s 15-year-old daughter and twin 18-year-old sons got out of the water on their own, physically unharmed but traumatized. Campbell said crews spoke with the family and found the 4-year-old’s body near a dock that evening. The remaining children were released to other family members, who told detectives that both parents struggled with mental health issues and that relatives tried to intervene as recently as Aug. 2.

“But there were never any discussions of harming anyone,” Campbell said. “They had some, you know, religious beliefs. What we recognize is this: She was clearly in a mental crisis, no doubt about it. You talk to every witness or every first responder, she was in mental crisis, and it just simply manifests itself in what we call a spiritual delusion.”

Miller has also been charged with domestic violence and endangering children.

The family with their church released a statement through the sheriff’s office stating that the couple had received professional help in the past and that the events did not reflect the community’s religious beliefs.

“The extended family encourages anyone facing mental health challenges to seek professional help, as the recent events do not reflect the loving and caring family they were always known to be,” they stated.