:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/atwood-lake-crime-scene-1-082525-8d654e039bff4255bb7cf331463e71dc.jpg "Amish Mom Seen Crying With 3 Kids Before Allegedly Driving Them Into Lake to Prove 'Worthiness to God'
By Samira Asma-Sadeque")
NEED TO KNOW
- An Amish woman is at the center of an investigation after she allegedly tried to kill herself and her three children to prove “worthiness to God,” per authorities
- The woman’s 4-year-old son and husband died in a separate incident which, she allegedly says, was to serve the same purpose as her mission
- Authorities say panicked bystanders tried to help the woman and her children as she drove the golf cart into the lake in what many thought was an accident
The Ohio woman at the center of what police believe was an apparent suicide pact with her husband was seen crying and huddled with her three children before she allegedly drove all of them into a lake in a golf cart.
The woman, who has not been named, survived the apparent mission along with the children in Atwood Lake, Ohio over the weekend.
Her husband Marcus J. Miller and their 4-year-old son Vincen Miller, however, were found deceased at a nearby dock, the Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s Office previously said.
Investigators who spoke with the woman and her three surviving children — a 15-year-old and 18-year-old twins — believed that she and her husband were trying to prove their “worthiness to God” through their actions on Saturday, Aug. 23, Sheriff Orvis Campbell said at a press conference the next day.
Several witnesses told police that the woman and her three children were seen huddled together and crying before the allegedly self-engineered crash, Campbell said at the briefing, which was live-streamed by WKYC.
As the woman sped through the location in her golf cart, several panicked witnesses tried to stop her or help her as they thought the cart was careening out of her control, Campbell said.
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Following her rescue, she allegedly told authorities that she threw her 4-year-old into the lake “to give to God,” Campbell said.
“She made the other kids go through some ritualistic type stuff,” he added.
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The woman has not yet been charged in connection with the death of her 4-year-old or for allegedly driving her three children into the lake. But authorities are expected to charge her with aggravated murder in connection with the death of the 4-year-old, NBC reported.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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