Woman Charged in Death of Broadway Star Ruthie Ann Miles 4-Year-Old Daughter Dies by Apparent Suicide

Dorothy Bruns, the woman charged in the death of Ruthie Ann Mile’s 4-year-old daughter as well as one other, has died of an apparent suicide.

According to a representative for the New York Police Department who spoke to PEOPLE, Bruns, 44, was found unresponsive by a friend in a bedroom at her Staten Island home Tuesday. Emergency medical responders pronounced her dead at the scene.

A second NYPD spokesperson told NBC10 that Bruns’ death is believed be an apparent suicide, as pills and a suicide note were reportedly found at the residence.

Bruns had been indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury in May and arraigned on charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, and assault in connection to a March accident that resulted in the deaths of two children, including Miles’ 4-year-old Abigail Blumenstein and 1-year-old Joshua Lew.

The children had reportedly been crossing the street with Miles and Lew’s mother Lauren when Bruns ran a red light and struck them, with eyewitness claiming she dragged the stroller that Lew was in about half a block before crashing into another vehicle.

Both Joshua and Abigail were pronounced dead at the scene. Miles, who won a Tony in 2015 for her role in the Broadway revival of The King and I and was pregnant at the time of the accident, as well as Lauren were injured in the accident and transported to a hospital.

Bruns had reportedly told authorities that she experienced a seizure at the time of the accident, though doctors had warned her against driving when she had experienced a similar episode behind the wheel before.

In May, two months after the loss of their daughter, Miles’ family lawyer Ben Rubinowitz announced that Miles and her husband Jonathan Blumenstein had lost their unborn child, who they had named Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein.

“At the time of the crash Ruthie was pregnant and was severely injured. This past Friday Ruthie and Jonathan lost their baby, Sophia Rosemary Wong Blumenstein,” Rubinowitz said in a statement. “The pain suffered by Ruthie and Jonathan is nearly impossible to fathom. As you might imagine, they are overwhelmed by the sadness of the deaths of their children.”

“Ruthie and Jonathan are grateful for the support of their family and friends but wish and ask that their privacy by respected during their most trying time. Ruthie and Jonathan continue to seek God’s presence, mercy and peace,” the statement concluded.

Following the accident and the loss of their second child, those in the world of Broadway showered Miles and her family with an outpouring of love and support on social media.

Miles returned to the stage for the first time in August in the revival of The King and I.