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A North Carolina medical examiner has officially released the cause and manner of death in connection with the high-profile alleged suicide of a pastor’s wife from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Mica Miller, 30, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to North Carolina medical examiner Dr. Richard Johnson.
“Based on the nature of the wound … it is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Johnson said, per a report from Courtney Rowles of WPDE TV 15 (ABC – Florence/ Myrtle Beach, S.C.).
“And it was not in the back of the head, as it has been speculated,” Johnson added.
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Miller’s body was found last weekend at theLumber River State Parkin North Carolina – a sprawling 14,000-acre wilderness straddling the scenic blackwater river. Friends have indicated she had no known ties to the Lumberton area – and no known reason to be approximately fifty miles north of her home in Myrtle Beach.
First reported by this media outlet last Thursday, Miller’s death quickly became an international story thanks to the bizarre way in which her husband, pastor John-Paul “JP” Miller of the Solid Rock at Market Common church in Myrtle Beach, chose to announce it to parishioners.
At the conclusion of a full-length, upbeat sermon last Sunday (April 28, 2024), Miller asked his congregation to stand for an announcement — giving his parishioners strict instructions not to discuss the forthcoming news amongst themselves.
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“I got a call late last night my wife has passed away,” Miller said. “Yeah. It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina.”
“Ya’ll knew that she wasn’t well mentally – and that she needed her medicine that was hard to get to her,” Miller added. “I’m sure there’ll be more details to come.”
There were more details to come … including allegations of “violence and abuse” against JP Miller. These allegations were detailed in a court filing submitted by Mica Miller’s family seeking control over her estate.
As we previously reported, just prior to her death – on April 15, 2024 – Mica Miller filed for divorce from her husband. As we reported, JP Miller was served these papers on April 25, 2024 — two days prior to his wife’s death. The hearing relating to this filing had been scheduled for June 5, 2024in front of S.C. family court judgeJan Bromell Holmes. At that hearing, Miller’s attorneys hoped to obtain an order which would restrain John-Paul Miller from disposing of, encumbering, transferring, selling, hypothecating, pledging, destroying or otherwise altering the status or value of any marital asset.
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Affidavits filed in support of the court filing accused JP Miller of transferring the deed to the couple’s marital home to the church – and transferring his interest in a local piano bar called‘Crocodile Rocks‘to his son.
Mica Miller’s family members also portrayed her as a woman in fear for her life – with her sister Sierra Francis stating that Mica worried “she would not make it to the divorce” and that “her life would be taken from her.”
“If I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP,” Mica said, according to her sister.
Similarly, an affidavit filed by her brother – Nathaniel Francis – referred to Mica Miller making “several police reports over the last few weeks of her tires being slashed and tracking devices being found on her car.” He also referred to an email he was forwarded in which John-Paul Miller allegedly “apologize(d) to Mica for the tires and causing damage to her vehicle.”
Our news team is investigating a host of allegations tied to this suspicious death. Be on the lookout for additional coverage as we continue to dig deeper into this tragedy …
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folksis the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina and before that he was a bass guitarist and dive bar bouncer. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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