SANDUSKY, Ohio -- A Michigan woman has been formally charged with attempted murder and is scheduled for a video arraignment at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Huron Municipal Court.
Ruth Smith, 33, of Lansing, is in the Erie County Jail for attempted murder after trying to smother her 7-month-old daughter in the parking lot of Kalihari Resorts Friday afternoon.
According to police, Smith drove down from Michigan, parked in the resort parking lot and waited for the child to fall asleep.
Smith then attempted to suffocate the girl with a pillow for about ten minutes, stopping when she believed she had killed the child.
When the infant awoke a short time later, Smith dialed 911 around 3:30 p.m. to calmly request EMS at the waterpark.
She then began to cry and told the dispatcher, ""I'm trying to kill my daughter."
Police responded, finding the baby alive. The infant is expected to be fine.
During interviews with detectives, Smith told police she had been planning to kill her child for several days.
Smith told detectives that she was in a custody dispute with the infant's father and that she chose to kill the child rather than give custody to the father.
The father drove to Sandusky on Friday night to stay with the baby.
Smith will be held without bond until her arraignment at Huron Municipal Court. She is charged with one first-degree felony count of attempted murder.
