Pastor’s wife found dead after expressing fear of husband. Death ruled as suicide

The wife of a South Carolina pastor who warned her sister he may shoot her died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a medical examiner has ruled.

Mica Miller, 30, made various claims of harassment and abuse in the weeks and months before she was found with a gunshot wound to the head on April 27. One of those claims, according to her sister, Sierra Francis, was that Miller’s husband, John-Paul, was to blame if she was found with a fatal head wound, The Christian Post reported.

Francis made the claim in a sworn affidavit as part of her bid to serve as special administrator for Miller’s estate. Francis also said in the affidavit that Miller had served her husband divorce papers just two days before her death.

“My sister also expressed to me that she was fearful that she would not make it to the divorce and that her life would be taken from her. It is my belief, based on conversations with my sister, that she told multiple people, including other family members,” Francis said in the affidavit.

“Mica stated to me on many occasions ‘if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP.’ Mica forwarded a family group text message notifying us that Mr. Miller was served the divorce papers on April 25, 2024,” Francis added. “On April 27, 2024, my sister, Mica A. Miller, was found dead as a result of a gunshot wound in Lumberton, North Carolina.”

ABC 15 requested reports from the Myrtle Beach Police Department listing Miller as a victim and received one. It also received another report listing her as the offender.

In the first report, Miller claimed John-Paul stole her car while she was “involuntarily hospitalized” between February 8 and 10. When she was released, she was told her husband had picked up her keys and purse from the hospital. She returned to the parking lot where she had left her car prior to her hospitalization and discovered it wasn’t there, so she reported it missing and accused her husband of stealing it, saying they had been separated since January 2023.

Police contacted John-Paul, who said he and his wife weren’t legally separated and that he had her car but that it was marital property. He also told police that his wife “suffers from mental health disorders” and would have yearly “episodes” around Christmas, causing her to become “reckless” and spend “large amounts of money when she stops taking her prescribed medication.” He told police he wouldn’t return the car for another month, which is how long the “reckless episodes” usually lasted.

Police determined that no criminal offense had been committed since the couple was legally married.

In the second police report tied to Miller, an employee of the Solid Rock Church, where John-Paul was a pastor at the time, accused Miller of stealing donations totaling $1,199 from the church’s 501C3. The police report indicates an investigation would follow the complaint, but it is not clear if that happened.

Miller also made claims about being harassed prior to her death, according to ABC 15.

Ultimately, Miller took her own life. Police on Tuesday revealed that John-Paul was at an athletic event during the time of Miller’s death, and surveillance footage showed her purchasing a 9mm handgun that same morning, Fox News reported.

On a 911 call released this week, Miller can be heard asking a 911 dispatcher if they could track her location.

“I’m about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me,” Miller told the dispatcher.

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“This incident has garnered much attention from across the Carolinas and beyond. I want to assure everyone that a very methodical investigation was conducted by our Criminal Investigations Team and Crime Scene Investigative Team,” Sheriff Burnis Wilkins said in a statement Tuesday, according to Fox. “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 added. “While I know it’s not what many people wanted to hear, the evidence is quite clear and compelling, and we are as saddened as anyone that this occurred. There are many factors that we have reviewed that occurred over an extended period of time that are probably related to the reason for this investigation, but in the end, sadly, a tragic decision was made by Mica that ended her life.”

If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.

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