At 2:54 p.m. on April 27, 2024, a 911 dispatcher in North Carolina answered a call from Lumber River State Park. The caller asked whether her phone could be located. She said she wanted her family to know where to find her. Then she hung up. That call is where the Mica Miller case begins.
The caller was 30 year old Mica Acacia Miller.
The medical examiner ruled her death a suicide. Her husband, John Paul “JP” Miller, has not been charged in connection with her death. Investigators said he was at an athletic event in Charleston that day. That is the official finding.
Around that finding sits a much larger story. It includes allegations of stalking and abuse, a church divided by scandal, federal criminal charges, and years of unanswered questions. The challenge in telling the Mica Miller case is separating what the record establishes from what people only allege.
What Is on the Record in the Mica Miller Case
In the weeks before she died, Mica told police that someone was following her and had deliberately deflated her tires. She said she feared for her life. Mechanics found a tracking device on her car. Two days before her death, she served JP with separation papers.
JP was the pastor of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where Mica also worked. In December 2025, a federal grand jury indicted him on two counts. Prosecutors charged him with cyberstalking Mica and making false statements to federal investigators. He pleaded not guilty and remains presumed innocent.
The federal case does not charge JP with causing Mica’s death. That distinction matters, and so does the history behind it.
Mica’s Background
Mica’s life began on March 7, 1994, in Wichita, Kansas. Her family eventually settled in Myrtle Beach and joined Solid Rock Church. There, Mica became known for her singing.
Accounts differ on when she first met JP. Netflix’s Death of the Pastor’s Wife says she was 13. In a police report, Mica said she had known him since she was 10. JP was roughly 15 years older than Mica, and he was her pastor. His attorney has denied allegations that he groomed her.
At 18, Mica married church member Jeremy Deas, with JP officiating. According to the Netflix documentary, she and JP began an affair in 2015. Both later divorced their spouses and married each other in 2017.
People who had been close to the couple have made serious allegations. JP’s first wife, Alison Williams, made several in an affidavit. She alleged that church officials encouraged JP to seek treatment for sexual addiction instead of removing him from his position. She also alleged that JP told her about inappropriate conduct involving underage girls. These are allegations, not criminal convictions.
In 2025, two women filed civil lawsuits accusing JP of sexually assaulting them when they were teenagers. JP denies the allegations and countersued for slander. No court has convicted him of a sexual crime.
Whatever happened inside the marriage, Mica was trying to leave it by late 2023. Her concerns soon began appearing in police reports.
A Series of Warnings
Mica’s family attorney has said she began separation proceedings in October 2023. Over the following months, she made several police reports about her car, her safety, and suspected surveillance.
In February 2024, Mica reported two things to police: someone took her car, and she was in the hospital against her will. JP told police that Mica had mental health disorders. He said he took the car because he believed she might sell it. Police concluded the vehicle was marital property and that they could not establish a criminal offense.
Mica’s siblings later alleged that JP arranged her admission to a psychiatric facility against her wishes. Her sister stated in an affidavit that someone removed documents and emails from Mica’s phone, laptop, vehicle, and purse during the hospitalization. Mica had gathered those materials for a divorce attorney. Her brother alleged that JP moved Mica’s belongings to another person’s apartment while she was in the facility.
On March 11, Mica reported a tire deflation device at Springmaid Pier. It was the second tire related incident she had reported that week. She told an officer she was afraid for her life. That same day, mechanics found a GPS tracker on her vehicle. Police later documented further tracker related reports on March 14, March 26, and April 15. On April 15, an officer told Mica the matter was civil. The officer said she could keep the device because she and JP were still legally married.
JP has acknowledged hiring a private investigator. Federal prosecutors allege he used the investigator as part of a broader campaign to follow and cyberstalk Mica. His attorney has denied the abuse and grooming allegations.
At the time, each report had its own explanation: a marital property dispute, a civil matter, or no evidence of a crime. Taken together, though, the reports show a woman who repeatedly told people she was afraid and believed someone was monitoring her. Whether police could or should have done more remains one of the questions in her case.
Mica’s Sworn Account in the Mica Miller Case
When Mica filed for separation, she submitted a handwritten affidavit. In it, she wrote that she had suffered emotional, sexual, spiritual, financial, and physical abuse throughout the marriage. According to reporting on the affidavit, she also alleged that JP paid three homeless people to take part in a sexual encounter with her. She further alleged that he injected her with testosterone to keep up with his sex drive. In the Netflix series, her loved ones describe similar claims, including that JP coerced her into sexual contact with homeless men.
These are allegations. JP has denied accusations of sexual abuse and coercion. The federal charges do not include any of them.
Days later, Mica served JP with separation papers. Two days after that, she died.
The Day After Mica’s Death
The day after she died, JP preached at Solid Rock Church. Near the end of his sermon, he announced her death and asked the congregation not to discuss the circumstances publicly.
A video of the sermon quickly spread online. Some viewers saw a pastor trying to address an unimaginable loss in front of his congregation. Others found his demeanor and comments unusual or insensitive. Protesters held “Justice for Mica” rallies outside the church, which eventually closed.
The Skinner Connection
In June 2025, JP married Suzie Skinner, his third wife. Suzie’s first husband, Chris Skinner, was a quadriplegic Army veteran and motivational speaker. He died in September 2021 after someone found him in a neighborhood pool. Authorities initially ruled his death an accidental drowning. After his sister presented new information, police reopened the investigation. In March 2025, investigators said they found no probable cause to charge anyone.
Authorities have not connected Chris’s death to Mica’s case. Some relatives and friends have made allegations about the circumstances, and JP and Suzie deny having an affair while Chris was alive. The accounts conflict, and no criminal charges have resulted. Speculation can do real harm to grieving families, especially about a death authorities have not found to be anything but accidental.
The Federal Case in the Mica Miller Case
The federal indictment is the most significant criminal development in the Mica Miller Case. Prosecutors allege that from November 2022 until her death, JP engaged in unwanted and harassing conduct toward her.
According to the indictment, he sent repeated communications and contacted her more than 50 times in a single day. He interfered with her finances and daily life, arranged for someone to place tracking devices on her vehicle, and also posted an intimate photograph of her online without her consent. Prosecutors also allege that he damaged her tires and later lied to federal investigators about purchasing a tire deflation device.
JP has pleaded not guilty. The cyberstalking charge carries a maximum sentence of five years. The false statements charge carries a maximum of two. The court released him on a $100,000 unsecured bond. After multiple continuances, the trial now falls in the January 2027 term.
The trial will weigh the specific criminal charges against the evidence. It will not determine whether JP caused Mica’s death. Even a conviction would not legally establish that he caused it. An acquittal would not automatically prove that every allegation against him was false.
The Settlement and Mica’s Law
In July 2024, Mica’s family, JP, and Solid Rock Church announced a confidential settlement. It ended the family’s pursuit of a potential wrongful death lawsuit and made JP the representative of Mica’s estate. It also included a commitment from both sides to support legislation on coercive control. That proposal became known as “Mica’s Law,” a direct outgrowth of the Mica Miller case.
Coercive control describes a pattern of behavior, not a single act. It can include monitoring, isolation, financial control, intimidation, and other efforts to restrict a partner’s independence. Supporters argue that existing laws can miss this abuse when individual incidents don’t meet the legal definition of a crime. Critics worry that lawmakers could write such laws too broadly or vaguely. The proposal has stalled.
What Remains Unanswered in the Mica Miller Case
Mica’s case has generated countless theories online. Some focus on JP, others on the church, the investigation, Mica’s mental health, or the circumstances of her death. Not all of them deserve equal weight.
The documented record establishes that Mica reported being afraid and reported problems with her tires and vehicle. It also establishes that mechanics found a tracking device on her car and that she was separating from JP when she died. It does not establish that every allegation people make online is true. That distinction matters in a case with documentaries, social media speculation, and conspiracy theories swirling around it.
The January 2027 trial may answer some of the legal questions about JP Miller. It cannot answer all of the questions the Mica Miller case raises about Mica’s life and death. The larger question may be harder to resolve. When someone repeatedly says they are afraid, each report may look manageable on its own. When does a collection of separate incidents become a pattern?
That is the question Mica’s story continues to leave behind.
For more true crime, visit UATwitch.
