Mom Accused of Throwing Son, 4, Into Lake Amid 'Spiritual Delusion' After Husband Drowned: Police
What authorities are labeling a "spiritual delusion" has led to the deaths of a father, Marcus J. Miller, 45, and his youngest child, Vincen Miller, 4, while the family was camping at Atwood Lake in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, as detailed by NBC affiliate WKYC. Now, the man's wife stands accused of killing her child. She is expected to face aggravated murder charges in that death, according to authorities at a press briefing held Monday by the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office who called the child's death "intentional." They believe the father's death was an accidental drowning. Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell broke down the tragic events that happened over the weekend, including when his department first became involved with the as-yet-unidentified woman, and the moment they realized there was more going on here than at first glance. Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about an accident at around 10:39 a.m. on Saturday after reports that a woman and her three children had crashed a golf cart off of a stone wall and into the lake. When a witness asked the woman if she needed any help, according to Campbell, "she suggested him not to help her, to just pray for [them], and that was the first statement that suggested this was more than an accident at that lake." As the woman was pulled from the water, rescuers said that she was making concerning comments about speaking with God, with the most troubling coming in "a pretty immediate statement made that she had given her son to the Lord." At that time, Campbell said that the woman's three children, a 15-year-old daughter and 18-year-old twin sons, had managed to get themselves out of the water. All three were physically unharmed, but "traumatized." The comment, however, suggested a much grimmer reality that was unfolding. "Keep in mind, she's there with a 15-year-old daughter and two 18-year-old sons, and nobody knows what son she's talking about," Campbell said at the presser, per WKYC. "There's no other child there, and they tried to discern and tried to comfort her." "She actually attempted to flee for a minute," he continued. "She was not rational." Investigators were finally able to determine that there was an as-yet-unseen fourth child, as well as a husband. "That's a statement coming from the mother and then confirmed by the teenage kids, that there's a 4-year-old son missing. And that the husband and father is missing," Campbell said. He said that his team was "hoping she's just sick and that the father's got this 4-year-old somewhere in the campground." Unfortunately, that wasn't what was going on at all. It wasn't until two hours after authorities first arrived on the scene, and after the mother had been transported to a local hospital for evaluation of mental health concerns, that detectives were finally able to interview her. Campbell told the media that he doesn't believe "the mother has ever lied to us, but the statements have not made sense a lot." According to Campbell, the woman suggested that she'd been in direct communication with God and that she and her family were acting "to prove their worthiness" to him. She "was supposedly hearing voices that she believed were God," said Campbell, as noted by Law&Crime. "That led her and her husband to go out and jump in the lake first." She told investigators "that she and her husband went to this dock [at around 1:15 a.m.], and they jumped in the water because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things, things to prove their worthiness to God, to show their faith is complete." The women then said that they were failing in these efforts, which he described as "bizarre, some of them were just swimming exercises," though he said the woman also claimed she was tasked to walk on water. "The most bizarre was that God told her to allow herself to be swallowed by a fish, as bizarre as that sounds," he added, before clarifying, "I tell you that statement not to make fun, but I tell you that statement so you can have a picture of how difficult it was to communicate with her." Campbell said that when they returned to their RV after their middle-of-the-night foray to the lake, according to the woman, her husband was disappointed in himself that he had not performed better and failed at the tasks "because he didn't have enough faith." "What she says is that she and her husband went to this dock, and they jumped in the water because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things, things to prove their worthiness to God, to show their faith is complete. And they didn't do very well in those," Campbell said. Her husband reportedly expressed his intention to return to the lake and complete one of those tasks, which was to swim to a sandbar a relatively long distance from the dock, according to Campbell. According to the woman, after they re
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
After allegedly throwing the 4-year-old in as an "offering to God," police say the mother admitted loading the couple's three other children into a golf cart and driving it into the lake.
What authorities are labeling a "spiritual delusion" has led to the deaths of a father, Marcus J. Miller, 45, and his youngest child, Vincen Miller, 4, while the family was camping at Atwood Lake in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, as detailed by NBC affiliate WKYC.
Now, the man's wife stands accused of killing her child. She is expected to face aggravated murder charges in that death, according to authorities at a press briefing held Monday by the Tuscarawas County Sheriff's Office who called the child's death "intentional." They believe the father's death was an accidental drowning.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff Orvis Campbell broke down the tragic events that happened over the weekend, including when his department first became involved with the as-yet-unidentified woman, and the moment they realized there was more going on here than at first glance.
First Encounter
Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about an accident at around 10:39 a.m. on Saturday after reports that a woman and her three children had crashed a golf cart off of a stone wall and into the lake.
When a witness asked the woman if she needed any help, according to Campbell, "she suggested him not to help her, to just pray for [them], and that was the first statement that suggested this was more than an accident at that lake."
As the woman was pulled from the water, rescuers said that she was making concerning comments about speaking with God, with the most troubling coming in "a pretty immediate statement made that she had given her son to the Lord."
At that time, Campbell said that the woman's three children, a 15-year-old daughter and 18-year-old twin sons, had managed to get themselves out of the water. All three were physically unharmed, but "traumatized." The comment, however, suggested a much grimmer reality that was unfolding.
"Keep in mind, she's there with a 15-year-old daughter and two 18-year-old sons, and nobody knows what son she's talking about," Campbell said at the presser, per WKYC. "There's no other child there, and they tried to discern and tried to comfort her."
"She actually attempted to flee for a minute," he continued. "She was not rational."
Investigators were finally able to determine that there was an as-yet-unseen fourth child, as well as a husband. "That's a statement coming from the mother and then confirmed by the teenage kids, that there's a 4-year-old son missing. And that the husband and father is missing," Campbell said.
He said that his team was "hoping she's just sick and that the father's got this 4-year-old somewhere in the campground." Unfortunately, that wasn't what was going on at all.
It wasn't until two hours after authorities first arrived on the scene, and after the mother had been transported to a local hospital for evaluation of mental health concerns, that detectives were finally able to interview her. Campbell told the media that he doesn't believe "the mother has ever lied to us, but the statements have not made sense a lot."
The Woman's Story
According to Campbell, the woman suggested that she'd been in direct communication with God and that she and her family were acting "to prove their worthiness" to him. She "was supposedly hearing voices that she believed were God," said Campbell, as noted by Law&Crime. "That led her and her husband to go out and jump in the lake first."
She told investigators "that she and her husband went to this dock [at around 1:15 a.m.], and they jumped in the water because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things, things to prove their worthiness to God, to show their faith is complete."
The women then said that they were failing in these efforts, which he described as "bizarre, some of them were just swimming exercises," though he said the woman also claimed she was tasked to walk on water.
"The most bizarre was that God told her to allow herself to be swallowed by a fish, as bizarre as that sounds," he added, before clarifying, "I tell you that statement not to make fun, but I tell you that statement so you can have a picture of how difficult it was to communicate with her."
Campbell said that when they returned to their RV after their middle-of-the-night foray to the lake, according to the woman, her husband was disappointed in himself that he had not performed better and failed at the tasks "because he didn't have enough faith."
"What she says is that she and her husband went to this dock, and they jumped in the water because God was speaking to them and telling them to do things, things to prove their worthiness to God, to show their faith is complete. And they didn't do very well in those," Campbell said.
Her husband reportedly expressed his intention to return to the lake and complete one of those tasks, which was to swim to a sandbar a relatively long distance from the dock, according to Campbell.
According to the woman, after they returned around 5:30 a.m., her husband wanted to immediately return. "Keep in mind he hasn't been asleep at night he's heading back there," Campbell said. "For the longest time, we weren't sure if that was true. We didn't know if we could believe her statement."
A witness, though, corroborated at least that they'd seen the man at the dock at around 6:30 a.m. "wearing the clothes he left behind at the dock." He did not survive his alleged attempt to swim to the sand bar.
Witnesses also told investigators that they saw the mother at around 8 a.m. loading the couple's 4-year-old son into the golf cart, with multiple witnesses saying she was "driving very dangerously," per Campbell, describing her overturning the vehicle at one point and up on two wheels at another, as detailed by the Times-Reporter.
"The children saw her leave with the 4-year-old, and then a while later she came back," Campbell told the press. "She states that she went to the dock and that she threw the 4-year-old in because that's what she needed to do as an offering to God." He said she did it "to give that child to God."
"She believed that she and her husband had to pass these tests to show their faith, and when they didn't, then Vincen became the price to pay for that," Campbell said.
He said that the surviving children detailed unusual ritualistic behavior at their mother's orders after this. She allegedly first drove the 15-year-old to the dock and had her get into the lake before later having the 18-year-olds do the same.
Campbell offered an example of one behavior, saying, "They climb out of the lake and at one point, according to the children, she makes them all lay down on the dock with their hands in the water to pray for their little brother and father because they were gone and had gone to heaven."
Witnesses described seeing the woman and her teenaged children huddled together and praying near the water. "It actually scared some witnesses," Campbell said, per NBC News. "They thought they were crying, they were emotional, and they didn't know what was going on."
"She then heard the voice again telling her to drive into the lake," Campbell said, despite telling detectives that her older children had passed their tests. The three teens are now in the care of relatives, per the outlet.
Campbell said that the body of 4-year-old Vince Miller was recovered from the bottom of the lake near the dock at around 6 p.m. that day. Marcus Miller's body was recovered at approximately 8:30 a.m. Sunday morning, 53 yards from the dock, per Fox affiliate WTOV. Police believe his death was an accidental drowning.
Mental Health & Religion
Detectives also reached out to members of the couple's family, who expressed concerns about both the parents' mental health, "but there were never any discussions of harming anyone," Campbell said at Monday's press briefing.
"They had some some, you know, religious beliefs," Campbell said. "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."
He went on to say, "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. I really don't."
After the deaths, the family released a statement in conjunction with their church, which WKYC shared in its entirety:
The church and family want to thank the law enforcement and rescue personnel for all that was done during this tragic weekend.
The family involved are members of the Old Order Amish Church. As a church of Christian faith, we believe that we are saved by grace, through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9), and the events of this past weekend 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.
At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the family directly affected. We stand beside them in their grief and ask that their privacy, as well as that of the broader community, be respected during this difficult time. We kindly ask that the public and media honor this by allowing space for healing.
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."
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
