Connecticut Mom Accused of Crashing Vehicle, Walking to River and Drowning Her 2-Year-Old Child

A woman in Connecticut has been charged with murder in connection with the death of her 2-year-old child, who police found dead in the Connecticut River late last summer.

In the afternoon on Sept. 11, officers arrived at the scene of a car crash on Route 9 South in Cromwell and found one of the vehicles empty, WVIT reported.

According to eyewitnesses, a woman, later identified as 24-year-old Devoni Miller, exited the crashed vehicle with a young child, later identified as 2-year-old Deroyal Miller, and headed down an embankment toward the river.

About two hours later, officers located the mother, who was wearing only her undergarments, officials said. She told police that her toddler was floating in the river and that they had been swimming.

Shortly after locating the mother, officers found Deroyal in a rocky area of the river. The toddler was transported to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead, authorities said.

Investigators believe Miller was intentionally speeding just before the crash and tried to convince the driver of the other vehicle not to phone police.

According to the News-Times, Miller had also been involved in another crash earlier in the day. She reportedly got into a wreck near downtown Cromwell and left the scene.

Police said Miller during questioning allegedly said she was “not crazy, just a little depressed.”

After her child’s death, witnesses she said she was “running and hiding from the police and demons,” according to authorities.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner announced earlier this month that Deroyal died from drowning and that the manner of death was determined to be a homicide, WTIC reported.

On Dec. 21, Miller was arrested and charged with murder, risk of injury to a child, reckless endangerment, evading responsibilities with injuries, reckless driving, and interfering with an emergency vehicle, authorities said.

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According to the police report, Miller allegedly “intended to cause the death of the victim, thereby resulting in death.”

She was booked into jail and was being held on a $1 million bond.