A Connecticut mother has been charged with murder in the death of her 2-year-old child, who was found dead in the Connecticut River after a car crash in September.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said earlier this month that the toddler, identified as Deroyal Miller, died from drowning and that the manner of death was homicide, according to WTIC.
Devoni Miller, 24, has been charged with murder, risk of injury to a child, reckless endangerment, evading responsibilities with injuries, reckless driving, and interfering with an emergency vehicle.
It was Miller’s second crash of the day, according to the News-Times. Earlier in the day, she crashed near downtown Cromwell and left the scene.
The crash happened late in the afternoon on September 11 on Route 9 South in Cromwell. State police arrived on the scene and found one of the vehicles empty, WVIT reported.
Witnesses told the troopers a woman got out of that vehicle with a young child and went down an embankment toward the river. Police found Miller alone about two hours later, wearing only her undergarments, police said. She told the officers that her toddler was floating in the river and that they had been swimming.
A short time after locating the mother, they found the little child in a rocky area of the river. The toddler was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead.
According to the arrest warrant, investigators believe Miller was intentionally speeding just before the crash and tried to convince the driver of the other vehicle not to call police.
She reportedly told police that she is “not crazy, just a little depressed.” Witnesses who spoke with investigators said Miller had been behaving erratically and that after her child’s death, she said she was “running and hiding from the police and demons,” the affidavit said.
The police report says that Miller “intended to cause the death of the victim, thereby resulting in death.”
Miller was arrested on Thursday and was given a $1 million bond. She is due back in court on Friday.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
[Featured image: Devoni Miller/police handout]
