What Happened to Mica Miller? Pastor Faces Charges After Wife’s Death

In April 2024, the death of 30-year-old Mica Miller at a North Carolina state park drew national attention after reports emerged that the pastor’s wife had repeatedly contacted police about harassment and said she feared for her life.

Authorities ultimately ruled Mica’s death a suicide and said there was no evidence that her estranged husband, John-Paul Miller, was involved in her death. But the investigation did not end there. 

In December 2025, a federal grand jury indicted John-Paul on charges of cyberstalking his wife before her death and making false statements to federal investigators. He has pleaded not guilty and denied abusing Mica.

Now, Mica’s story is receiving renewed attention with the new docuseries Death of the Pastor’s Wife, which explores the case.

Mica Miller, born Mica Francis, grew up in a religious family and became involved with Solid Rock Church after her family moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C., when she was a teenager. The church was led by John-Paul Miller, who was then married and had five children. John-Paul’s first wife stated in an affidavit that Mica at one point worked as a nanny for the family.

Mica married another member of the church when she was 18. Her family says she and John-Paul began a relationship in 2015, when she was 20 and he was 35. Both eventually divorced their spouses, and Mica and John-Paul married in November 2017. John-Paul has described their marriage as loving, while members of Mica’s family have portrayed the relationship very differently.

Mica became deeply involved at Solid Rock, working as creative director for its worship, youth and women’s ministries. By late 2023, however, the marriage had entered a turbulent period of separation and attempted divorce. Mica filed for divorce in October 2023 but later withdrew the filing by Valentine’s Day 2024, and both spouses subsequently initiated additional legal proceedings as they separated. John-Paul filed for separation from Mica again in late February 2024, but the motion was dismissed without prejudice on March 12, 2024.

By early 2024, Mica was living apart from her husband and had made several reports to Myrtle Beach police alleging harassment. Police records showed that she complained about repeated phone calls, being followed and having her tires deflated. A mechanic discovered a tracking device on her vehicle.

About a month before her death, Mica told police she was “afraid for her life,” and in paperwork filed after Mica’s death, her sister said Mica had told her, “If I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP.”

On April 15, 2024, she filed for separation, and John-Paul was served with notice of the proceeding on April 25—two days before her death.

On April 27, 2024, Mica left her Myrtle Beach residence at about 11:38 a.m. Surveillance footage later showed her entering Dick’s Pawn Shop shortly after noon and leaving after purchasing a firearm and ammunition. She then drove roughly an hour north to Lumber River State Park in Robeson County, N.C.

At 2:54 p.m., Mica called 911 from the park and asked the dispatcher whether authorities could locate her phone. She said she was planning to kill herself and wanted to make sure her family would be able to find her body. The call ended, and dispatchers were unable to reach her again.

Law enforcement began searching the area. Investigators later learned that someone nearby had heard a person crying followed by a gunshot. Another caller subsequently reported finding a body in the water. Authorities identified the deceased woman as Mica.

The Robeson County medical examiner determined that Mica died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the sheriff’s office concluded that her death was a suicide. Investigators reconstructed her movements through surveillance footage, interviews and other evidence and said they found no evidence that John-Paul was involved in her death.

Investigators also confirmed that John-Paul was not in North Carolina when Mica died. Authorities said eyewitness accounts and license-plate readers showed that he had traveled to Charleston the previous day for a sporting event and was returning to the Myrtle Beach area on April 27.

Despite those findings, the circumstances surrounding Mica’s death drew intense public scrutiny, particularly because she and John-Paul were in the midst of a contentious separation, and details of her earlier allegations against him were beginning to emerge.

The day after Mica’s death, John-Paul announced it to his congregation at Solid Rock Church, telling worshippers at the end of a sermon that she had died by suicide. As questions about the case spread online, protests were held outside the church, and John-Paul was temporarily released from his ministerial duties.

In December 2025, a federal grand jury indicted John-Paul on one count of cyberstalking and one count of making false statements to federal investigators. According to the indictment, John-Paul engaged in a campaign of harassment against Mica beginning in November 2022 and continuing until her death in April 2024.

Federal prosecutors allege that John-Paul repeatedly sent unwanted communications to Mica, including contacting her more than 50 times in a single day. They say he posted a nude photograph of her online without her consent, interfered with her finances and daily activities, placed tracking devices on her vehicle and damaged her tires.

Prosecutors also allege that John-Paul hired a private investigator to surveil Mica. When questioned by federal investigators, John-Paul allegedly said he had hired the investigator to prevent Mica from purchasing a firearm. Authorities say he actually hired the investigator to monitor her over suspected adultery.

The false statements charge also concerns Mica’s tires. John-Paul allegedly told investigators he had not damaged them, but prosecutors allege that he had purchased a tire-deflation device online and sent messages to others about Mica’s vehicle.

John-Paul has denied abusing Mica and has maintained that he was not responsible for her death. In a 2024 interview, he acknowledged using tracking devices and hiring a private investigator but said his actions were intended to protect his wife.

John-Paul pleaded not guilty to both federal charges in January 2026 and was released on a $100,000 unsecured bond. His case has since been delayed several times and is currently scheduled for the October 2026 term of federal court.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison on the cyberstalking charge and two years for making false statements, as well as a potential fine of up to $250,000. The charges are allegations, and he is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Mica’s family has also pushed for changes to South Carolina’s domestic-violence laws, supporting legislation that would recognize “coercive control”—patterns of nonphysical abuse that can include surveillance, isolation, financial control and intimidation. The proposed measure, which supporters have called “Mica’s Law,” has yet to pass.

The new docuseries Death of the Pastor’s Wife examines the Millers' marriage, the circumstances surrounding Mica's death and the allegations that emerged afterward. The series uses previously unseen footage, recordings and interviews to trace Mica and John-Paul’s relationship from its beginnings through their contentious separation. It reveals intimate details—including that Mica once had John-Paul’s signature tattooed on her body—and features recordings Mica made during the breakdown of their marriage, as well as relatives and friends describing what they witnessed in the months before her death.