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The tragedy of Mica Miller’s death — and the ensuing scandal — might have been contained to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, if not for the strange way her husband broke the news.
On a Sunday morning in April, John-Paul “J.P.” Miller, 45, was delivering his sermon at Solid Rock Ministries, the evangelical church he founded in 2006, telling his congregation of 700 about the power of God’s love and cracking a few jokes. He then directed his congregants to stand and asked them to “leave church quietly” and “not talk about the announcement” he was about to make. His 30-year-old wife, an active member of the church, had died the day before by suicide, he said.
His attempts at silencing his church members had the opposite effect.
The announcement sent shockwaves through the congregation, and video was shared on the church’s social media accounts. Though it was later taken down, Protestant watchdog site Protestia posted it on X, formerly Twitter, where it was viewed over 1.6 million times. National news outlets began reporting the story, and an army of online sleuths dissected every detail of John-Paul’s life and his wife’s torment.
In an echo of other victim-oriented social media movements, people created Justice for Mica forums, Facebook groups, hashtags on TikTok, Instagram and X, and organized protests outside the Solid Rock church. They traded theories about her death and speculated that John-Paul, who she was in the process of divorcing, had killed her. Rumors and conspiracies became so rampant that the beleaguered local sheriff’s office on May 7 issued a detailed account of Mica’s movements on the day of her death, including photos from surveillance footage of her leaving her apartment, purchasing a gun and ammunition at a pawn shop, and stopping for gas. Authorities also shared audio of a 911 call she placed, asking the operator to track her location because she was about to kill herself and she wanted her family to know where to find her body.
She was found submerged in a river at a North Carolina state park on April 27, and her death was ruled a suicide. John-Paul was on an overnight trip to Charleston at the time, which authorities said they confirmed by talking to people he was with and reviewing highway camera footage that showed his vehicle.
But still, her legions of supporters blame her husband of six years for her death. Mica was a victim of domestic abuse and coercive control, her family said, desperately trying to escape her troubled marriage to a man who put trackers on her car, had her committed to psychiatric hospitals, humiliated her in front of their congregation, and harassed her to the point that she told the police she was “afraid for her life,” according to court documents obtained by WPDE.
John-Paul has repeatedly denied that he abused his wife or in any way contributed to her death. His attorney did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
But authorities’ investigation and John-Paul’s denials didn’t deter online sleuths, who believed they got to know Mica through her online presence (her Facebook page and videos posted by their church have since been taken down). Maybe he had an accomplice or paid someone to kill her, some speculated; others tried to poke holes in his alibi, suggesting — without evidence — that the police were covering up for him. A fisherman who told police he heard a woman crying and then heard a single gunshot became the subject of suspicion and vitriolic attacks on social media, WPDE reported. People pounced after the medical examiner’s report noted that police found one live round and two shell casings on the riverbank near Mica’s body, saying on social media that contradicted the witness’s account.
A letter that Mica reportedly sent to her divorce attorney days before her death only further fanned the flames.
The letter, sent about nine days before her death, and obtained by NewsNation, accused John-Paul of years of abuse and harassment.
“Since the day we became husband and wife, I have been abused in every way I can think of,” she reportedly wrote. “Emotionally, sexually, spiritually, financially, and physically. He has harassed me physically and electronically with letters, phone calls, emails, and texts, hacking my emails, hacking my personal Facebook, and impersonating me. Using my stolen phone to send texts and emails out to church members pretending to be me, texting friends and family saying that I am sleeping with teenagers from our church, and showing up in person at places around town … To having installed 3 different tracking devices on my vehicle.”
As a church leader, John-Paul was candid about his past mistakes and sins, which resonated with his congregation, one former parishioner told The Post and Courier. John-Paul had repented, the man said, and his sermons affirmed the evangelical belief that people are rewarded for their faith with forgiveness and salvation.
John-Paul’s first wife, Alison Williams, accused him in court records of sexually molesting underage girls, hiring sex workers and adultery, The Post and Courier reported. He cheated on her with Mica, who had been a member of John Paul’s church since she was 15 and previously babysat for his family, she said. He officiated her first wedding; Mica’s first husband and Alison Williams filed for divorce after learning of John Paul and Mica’s relationship, the outlet reported, citing court records.
Alison and John-Paul share four children, two of them still minors. John-Paul was denied visitation with them after she filed an emergency request, accusing him in court documents obtained by NewsNation of failing to seek treatment as she said he had promised to do for continued “deviant sexual addictions and behaviors.” Since their 2015 divorce, she claimed, he had become increasingly erratic and irrational and his mental health had deteriorated. He had foregone some visitations with his children in the past because she said he told her he was not mentally well enough to care for them.
Mica and John-Paul married in late 2017, and she first filed for divorce in October 2023, just shy of their sixth anniversary.
During their marriage, Mica called police a number of times about her husband, according to The Post and Courier and police reports posted by true crime podcasting network Luna Shark Media.
In November 2022, while she was staying with her sister, she told a 911 dispatcher that John-Paul was threatening to forcibly take her home, saying he was “armed and ready.”
She claimed that her estranged husband placed tracking devices on her car, slashed her tires, stole it after he had her hospitalized against her will, and harassed her at a gas station. Mica showed police the trackers that she said she had removed from her car. When asked about the trackers in a July interview with WDPE, John-Paul said he had hired a private investigator to track her and see whether she went to a gun store.
In September, her youngest sister, Abigail Francis shared on Facebook a five-page list of allegations taken from Mica’s diaries, journals, writings and words that her family claimed are examples of the “abusive coercive control” John-Paul used against her. The family is campaigning to rename a proposed bill concerning coercive control, a specific category of intimate partner violence that one study describes as “a systematic pattern of behavior that establishes dominance over another person through intimidation, isolation, and terror-inducting violence or threats of violence,” to “Mica’s Law.” A growing movement seeks to codify coercive control for cases of domestic violence that extend beyond physical abuse.
Among the allegations on the list shared by Mica’s sister are that he raped her, confiscated her phone, car and watch, removed her from bank accounts, threw her clothes on the lawn, stalked her, hacked her email and social media and posted as her, vandalized her car, had her hospitalized against her will and forced her to take medication that had been prescribed to him.
While John-Paul has acknowledged some of the allegations — including the tracking devices on her car — he claimed in the trove of court documents he filed on July 26 that most of his late wife’s accusations were lies or distortions of the truth.
According to NewsNation, he did admit in an email to posting a topless photo of her on Facebook in retaliation for her sharing “horrible intimate details” of what he referred to as his “past sin.”
In the court documents, however, he denied abusing Mica and instead painted himself as her savior and blamed her family for manipulating her and turning her against him. He claimed Mica had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which her family denies, and that she experienced numerous crises because she stopped taking the mood stabilizer lithium at the urging of her family.
John-Paul himself was taking lithium, he told his congregation in October, saying he was so depressed that he struggled to get out of bed in the morning, The Post and Courier reported. When the family of a woman he dated during one of his separations with Mica confronted him, the outlet reported, he blamed his “ungodly actions” on bipolar episodes brought on by his marital problems.
The pursuit for justice seemed to reach an end in July when Mica’s family reached a legal settlement with John-Paul and his church concerning Mica’s estate. The agreement bars Mica’s family from pursuing any wrongful death lawsuit against John-Paul, according to The Post and Courier.
They did not disclose the terms of the settlement.
“It’s time to move on to the next chapter,” Regina Ward, Mica’s divorce attorney who is now representing her family and estate, said at a press conference at the time. She noted that Mica’s supporters might be disappointed by the settlement.
And then, on Nov. 1, the FBI raided John-Paul’s Myrtle Beach home. According to WBTW, authorities were seen carrying out boxes, a computer screen and an apparent external computer drive from the house.
An FBI spokesman confirmed to HuffPost that the agency “conducted court-authorized law enforcement activity” but said he could not provide additional information as the investigation is ongoing. It’s unclear what potential crime is under investigation.
Ward told WBTW that she shared documents with the FBI to obtain a search warrant for his home, but the agency spokesman could not confirm.
“While individuals are free to speak about interactions with the FBI, we do not, as a matter of practice, discuss or describe any contact we have or allegedly have with individuals,” he told HuffPost.
Just days after the search, on Nov. 6, John-Paul was arrested and charged with third-degree assault and battery according to an arrest warrant after allegedly confronting a protester outside his now-closed Solid Rock at Market Common church. He was released on bond the next day and has requested a jury trial, according to court records. He and other staff members had been removing items and belongings from the church, The Post and Courier reported.
Online sleuths celebrated John-Paul’s arrest but are hoping he faces more serious charges as a result of the FBI investigation. Many still refer to Mica’s death as a “murder” despite the evidence that she killed herself and are avidly hunting for and sharing “clues” that they believe point to John-Paul as her so-called killer — their version of justice for Mica.
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But Mica’s family said they are ready to move on and focus on helping victims of domestic abuse. Ward, their attorney, addressed their hopes for her legacy when her estate was settled in July.
“We want to focus on the memory and beauty of Mica,” she said, “and everything she has represented for herself and every single person that has ever been in her situation.”
If you or someone you know needs help, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for mental health support. Additionally, you can find local mental health and crisis resources at dontcallthepolice.com. Outside of the U.S., please visit the International Association for Suicide Prevention.