Mica Miller's story continues to inspire change, engage activists on first anniversary of her death

Yahoo

27-04-2025

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — In the year Mica Miller died at Lumber River State Park in Robeson County in what authorities have ruled a suicide, much has changed.
Solid Rock Church, a Market Common ministry the 30-year-old loved deeply is no more, while her estranged husband has been investigated by the FBI and sued multiple times over sexual assault allegations.
Mica was active at Solid Rock, running its women's ministry, helping with its graphic design and heading up worship sessions.
Documented incidents of emotional and psychological abuse by Miller's former partner, Myrtle Beach-area pastor John-Paul, have emerged through police reports and court records — prompting a grassroots movement to strengthen South Carolina's domestic violence laws.
Just days before the anniversary of her death, state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch, (R-Murrells Inlet), introduced legislation that would criminalize coercive control.
In other ways, much has remained the same. South Carolina still ranks near the top in reported domestic violence cases, and demands for justice on behalf of Mica and others continue to draw attention.
Sunday's Walk to Remember at The Market Common is the latest reminder that Mica Miller's legacy continues to inspire and engage activists pressing for more comprehensive domestic violence prevention and protection laws.
Here's a look back at News13's coverage of Mica Miller and her life:
The earliest indication of just how deeply Mica's death would resonate in her community came on May 5, when hundreds of people gathered outside of Solid Rock Church in a display of solidarity, laying a foundation for what would become known as the 'Justice for Mica' movement.
'I came out today to support her, to support her family, to support her story,' said Melissa Snyder. 'Because her story is important, and it needs to be told.'
Don Sites, who also attended the morning event, recalled Miller for her warmth.
'I remember one time, just passing by saying 'hi,' and she had the biggest smile on her face saying 'hi' back,' he said.
As Mica's story unfolded publicly, her strained relationship with John-Paul was at the center of it all. Two days before her death, she served him with divorce papers. Horry County police reports obtained by News13 in early May 2024 revealed that a GPS tracker was placed on her vehicle.
MIller made two complaints on March 11 — the first coming after her vehicle's tire was found slashed near Springmaid Pier, the report said. The second complaint, filed hours later, came after Miller took her vehicle to East Coast Honda on Highway 17 Bypass to have the tire repaired.
The police reports indicate that the suspect in both incidents was a male.
According to the police reports, Miller first contacted officers at about 1:20 a.m. on March 11 to report one of her tires had been slashed. Officers met her at a Margarita Drive address.
Miller told officers that 'this is the second time a razor has deflated her tire in the last week,' the report states. Miller said she was leaving Springmaid Pier when she 'heard a pop and noticed that a piece of metal was protruding from her tire.'
Probate court documents filed by two of Mica's siblings showed that their sister feared for her life amid divorce proceedings, at one point confiding that, 'if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was JP,'' Mica's sister, Sierra Francis, said in an affidavit asking to be named the special administrator of Mica's estate.
The May 2 affidavits filed by Sierra and Nathaniel Francis allege a pattern of abuse and harassment toward Mica by her husband.
'I know my sister to have expressed the abuse and violence against her by her husband to others, including family members and members of the church congregation,' Sierra Francis' affidavit said.
Sierra Francis said her sister told her that people were following her and indicated that her husband had hired people to follow her. The affidavit also alleges that John-Paul transferred assets, including the deed to their home, to one of his sons and moved his wife's personal belongings from their home while she was undergoing treatment at a mental-health facility.
Over 10 days in March, Mica Miller used her Facebook page to deliver words of affirmation and messages of strength — ending each one with a smile.
Five videos posted between March 18 and March 28 — totaling just over nine minutes — pulled in more than 5,000 positive reactions.
'My Bible says He took all the abuse you could think of for you so that you didn't have to live that life of slavery and bondage and pain', she said on March 22.
'You don't have to stay in an abusive relationship, whether that's sexual, whether that's somebody forcing you to take illegal drugs or alcohol abuse or physical abuse, psychological abuse, making you think this is all your fault, or you're a bad mom, or you're a bad wife or you're a bad husband, or you're not giving it your all when you know you are,' she said.
Mica Miller called 911 on April 27 and told authorities she was about to kill herself — purchasing a gun that same day, Robeson County authorities said.
'I'm about to kill myself and I just want my family to know where to find me,' Miller said in the call, according to authorities.
That was at 2:54 p.m., and by 3:03 p.m., deputies were sent to Lumber River State Park where her body was found. Mica's relatives were given the information during a May 7 meeting with Sheriff Burnis Wilkins and other investigators.
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After that, authorities revealed how Miller spent the final hours of her life — releasing a meticulous timeline and other pieces of evidence to substantiate the medical examiner's conclusion that Miller committed suicide.
Authorities confirmed John-Paul spent the night in Charleston at the time of his wife's death. He was seen traveling on Highway 17 Bypass in Horry County at 2:22 p.m. on April 27.
'Unfortunately, rumors and conspiracy theories were spreading quickly, and assumptions were being made. However, in the end, we must make decisions based on the facts, and evidence that has been gathered,' Wilkins said in a news release at the time.
John-Paul began 'grooming' Mica before the couple wed in 2017, according to a Myrtle Beach police report obtained by News13.
Miller made the allegation in a Feb. 21 complaint about a stolen vehicle after being discharged from an involuntary hospital stay.
Court documents show that John-Paul had power of attorney over Mica's healthcare, and he told officers Miller was prone to 'episodes on an annual basis' around Christmas.
John-Paul said his wife 'spends large amounts of money when she stops taking her prescribed medication,' and acknowledged having the car to prevent it from being sold.
John-Paul Miller told police 'the vehicle was martial property and that he was unwilling to give back to his wife for a month, which he stated was usually the timeframe of these reckless episodes.
John-Paul's attorney Russell Long denied Mica's allegations in a lengthy statement.
'Following the untimely death of Mica Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Miller's involvement in her demise,' he said in a news release. 'This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to be proliferating these falsehoods, on a mammoth proportion. Our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife.'
A man who was fishing nearby when authorities said Mica Miller shot and killed herself at a state park near Lumberton says he heard the gunshot and then found some of her personal items on the riverbank when he went to investigate.
In an exclusive interview with News13, Johnnie Jacobs, who asked not to be shown on camera, said he has been harassed on social media since the April 27 incident in which authorities said Miller bought a gun in Horry County and then went to the park and took her own life.
On the day of the shooting, Jacobs said he remembers hearing cries from that area and a single gunshot. After that, he said the cries stopped.
'As I decided that I was going to stop fishing, I came back through, stopped where they call it a slew or a lake off of the river,' he said. 'So, I pulled in there with my little boat and, maybe five minutes after, and maybe five minutes into the slew, I heard a cry. I heard it for about two or three minutes. Then I stopped, heard a gunshot. Then, the crying stopped.'
Jacobs said he could not see Miller but that if he could have seen her he would have tried to help.
'If it had been a person that was crying in the open, I would have checked on them all day long,' he said. 'I just wish I would have gone in there and checked on her.'
Jacobs was killed in a March 14 car wreck when authorities say his car was t boned.
Mica filed multiple police reports more than month before she died, complaining of GPS trackers tacked to her vehicles.
They don't give any indication from police about who placed the trackers on the vehicles, but the documents say Mica's brother Nathaniel forwarded him an email from John-Paul in which he apologized for the 'tires and causing damage to her vehicle.'
In November 2023, Sierra Francis called 911 after receiving threatening texts from John-Paul, according to the phone call obtained by NewsNation.
The call was made by Mica's sister when Mica was staying with her. She made the call after receiving threatening texts from John-Paul, quoting him in it as saying 'you better drive down the road now or there is going to be hell to pay.'
In the call, Mica's sister told the dispatcher that John-Paul was threatening suicide and that he texted 'blood is going to be on your hands.' The sister asked for a police officer to check the roads to ensure John-Paul did not show up.
'Call the cops, I don't care,' John-Paul allegedly told Mica's sister. 'I'm armed and ready.'
According to Horry County and Myrtle Beach police records, Mica reported four instances of GPS trackers being placed on vehicles she was driving.
News13 began looking to domestic violence laws in South Carolina for victims of stalking and harassing as Mica's story continued to grab attention.
According to state law, for someone to be convicted of stalking, victims must be able to show a pattern of two or more acts within a 90-day period.
Mica Miller made five police reports related to harassment and stalking in that 90-day period. However, no arrests were ever made.
'Stalking and harassment are just beginning, and they lead to much bigger things that unfortunately, in this case, Mica lost her life because of it,' said Allicia Young, a former Solid Rock Church member and friend of Mica.
Young launched an online petition urging lawmakers to adopt 'Mica's Law,' which as of April 26 had garnered more than 40,000 signatures with hundreds of comments from people who said they or a loved one have experienced some type of domestic violence.
Some of Mica Miller's personal belongings were turned over to an attorney after lawyers for her family and her husband John-Paul Miller reached an agreement on June 5.
'One of the primary issues we were seeking a court order from the judge is possession of Mica's personal property that's being held in the possession of the Robeson County Sheriff's Department,' Conway attorney Regina Ward said at an hourlong news conference outside the Horry County government building.
The deal came shortly before a scheduled hearing in Horry County Family Court to discuss Mica's estate. That session was canceled.
Ward said the car Mica drove to Lumber River was titled to her godmother, who will retain possession of it under the terms of the agreement.
'His lawyer would be able to ask us about having access to it to, but right now we are very satisfied and happy that he has been advised by his attorney to allow us to get that property in our possession,' Ward said.
The agreement also contained several restraining orders.
Despite the prior week's agreement, John-Paul pushed back against Mica's relatives in a series of court filings that included asking a judge to bar a posthumous name change.
Four days after, Sierra Francis filed her petition to become special administrator of Mica's estate on May 3, it was amended to include allegations of 'collusion' between John-Paul Miller and his Solid Rock church to undervalue a Coldwater Circle home.
The property was transferred solely to John-Paul on Nov. 17, 2020, records show. The next day, he took out a purchase money mortgage of $199,500 — paying it off by Dec. 12, 2023. In July 2021, court documents allege that John-Paul took out a second mortgage against the home, valued at $208,587, both being paid through 'joint marital funds,' court documents say.
The Millers then put an additional $90,000 worth of improvements into the home. Mica filed for divorce on Oct. 9, 2023, but that was later dismissed. However, While it was pending, John-Paul sold the home to Solid Rock Ministries for $169,331.
'Defendant Miller's supposed sale of the marital home to Defendant Church is believed to have been his attempt to defraud and deprive his wife … from her fair share of the marital asset,' the amended complaint says. 'Church (Solid Rock) is in collusion with the Defendant Husband in an attempt to deprive Wife from the fair share of the marital estate.'
Mica's body was discovered 'prone' and 'submerged' 100 feet from several shell casings found along a Robeson County riverbank where the 30-year-old killed herself in late April, a medical examiner's report revealed.
And two days before Mica fatally shot herself at Lumber River State Park on April 27, she had been prescribed anti-anxiety medication — the latest in a series of treatments to combat mental health problems that included suicidal ideations and bipolar disorder, according to a preliminary summary conducted by the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Three casings from a Sig Sauer 9 mm were recovered along the riverbank: Two live and one spent, the medical examiner's office said. The gun itself was pulled from the water by magnet about five feet from the shore.
The report, which is not based on an autopsy, said a post-mortem blood test performed the day after her death did not show any drugs or alcohol in her system. There were also no signs of a 'physical struggle' near where authorities said the wife of Myrtle Beach pastor John-Paul Miller took her life.
The Robeson County Sheriff's Office declined to comment that Monday. When contacted by News13 the next day, John-Paul acknowledged the report but did not comment.
Entry and exit wounds were marked just above her ears — 4 1/2 inches from the middle of her head.
Mica also had seven tattoos — including the name 'John Paul Miller' on the right side of her lower chest.
On the day she died, Miller's relatives were unable to contact her via photo calls or text messages. She was last seen alive at 1:33 p.m. in Mullins. A kayaker reported to authorities exactly three hours later that he found a body in the river that was determined to be Mica.
The report also said medical records showed that Mica was hospitalized twice between 2022 and 2024 — the first from Nov. 29 through Dec. 5, 2022, on 'suicidal precautions for bipolar 1' and 'recurrent manic episode' along with THC dependency and a 'dependent personality disorder.'
Mica was admitted again from Feb. 7-12 of this year by a therapist. Mica also was using Delta 8 gummies at the time, the report said.
John-Paul and Mica's relatives on July 29 agreed to end all legal disputes and called on protesters to drop demonstrations in front of his Market Common church.
Instead, all sides said they want to press state lawmakers into adopting a coercive control law in her memory. Attorneys announced the deal following an Horry County Probate Court hearing.
The unified front ended all pending lawsuits between Mica's family, John-Paul and his Solid Rock Ministries have been addressed through a global settlement whose terms are confidential — including control of Mica's estate.
'This is over. This global agreement is Mica's justice. The next step is the legislative goal. We only ask that you remember Mica as the wonderful, beautiful person that she was,' said Russell Long, an attorney for John-Paul Miller.
The deal also bars John-Paul from any civil wrongful death claims tied to Mica's suicide.
In life, Mica loved music, her community and her faith.
All three were on display Nov. 17 as part of a daylong event honoring the life of a woman whose April suicide sparked a national conversation about domestic violence awareness and prevention.
'I know that she would be so very excited to be here for all of this, so we are here standing for Mica and honoring her and everything that she did for his community,' said her sister, Abigail Francis. 'For so many people to be out here is just incredible.'
The Socastee High School band, where Mica attended, were among those that performed, and pictures of her lined the road leading into the park.
'She believed that God is the one and only waymaker, so we are out here showing that God makes a way for everything,' Francis said.
Inspired by Mica's story and those of dozens more who called his office, Republican state Sen. Stephen Goldfinch of Murrells Inlet on Tuesday introduced a measure that would amend South Carolina's domestic violence law to add coercive control as a criminal offense.
Four years ago, lawmakers filed a bill that would criminalize 'coercive control,' with punishments of up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Since that time, efforts to get such a law on the books have stalled in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Several states including California, Connecticut and Hawaii have adopted 'coercive control' laws, while similar efforts are pending in Florida, Maryland, New York and Washington, according to the group Americas Conference to End Coercive Control.
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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work here.
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