Inset: Asher Johnson (WOOD). Background: Olivia Miller appearing at her arraignment in January, 2024 (WZZM).
A 24-year-old mother in Michigan will spend less than a year behind bars over the death of her infant son, who drowned after she left the infant boy alone in the bathtub for 20 minutes while she talked on the phone.
A Kent County judge on Wednesday ordered Olivia Elizabeth Miller to serve one year in a state correctional facility in the drowning of 8-month-old Asher Johnson. Miller was credited with 246 days of time already served.
Wednesday’s sentencing comes after Miller in October pleaded no contest to one count of involuntary manslaughter in her son’s death. As part of the negotiated plea agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop an additional count of second-degree child abuse she had been facing.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the case came to light on Nov. 22, 2023, when Miller called 911 at about 3:38 p.m. and told the emergency dispatcher that her son had just drowned in the bathtub of her home in the 4600 block of 16 Mile Road Northwest, Grand Rapids NBC affiliate WOOD reported.
Once there, first responders found the infant lying face up on the floor and began performing lifesaving procedures. He died at a hospital.
Miller told detectives she had placed her son in the bathtub filled a few inches with water flowing, then went one room over to change the laundry. She claimed she returned after about five minutes to find her son floating face up in the water with his mouth and nose beneath the surface. She then said she tried to resuscitate Asher until authorities arrived.
However, over time, Miller’s claims about what took place that day changed, authorities said.
“Throughout the investigation, Olivia (Miller) gave varying stories of what occurred surrounding Asher’s death,” deputies wrote in a probable cause affidavit obtained by MLive.
According to the report, investigators obtained data from Miller’s cellphone that appeared to undercut what she had been telling police. The data reportedly said Miller began using her phone in various capacities at 3:17 p.m. and that she used the device continuously — taking only a single break that lasted 18 seconds — until she called 911 about 21 minutes later.
About four minutes before calling 911, Miller reportedly sent her dad a text that read, “Just trying to talk while I have time while Asher’s taking a nap.”
Miller then reportedly called Asher’s paternal grandmother two times and told her the baby had drowned before she called 911.
An autopsy conducted by the county’s chief medical examiner determined that Asher’s cause of death was drowning. The medical examiner also estimated that the infant had been lying on his back on the floor for a minimum of 20 minutes before authorities arrived at Miller’s home.
Miller’s attorney, Frank Stanley, previously told Grand Rapids, Michigan, ABC affiliate WZZM that it was important to point out there was “no indication of intentionality” regarding Miller’s actions.
“This is a tragic situation,” he said. “She has suffered tremendously emotionally from the death of her child — she loves that child.”
