South Carolina pastor arrested after confrontation with protesters over wife’s death
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
John-Paul Miller, a South Carolina pastor, was arrested Wednesday evening on charges of assault and battery, months after controversy surrounding his late wife Mica Miller’s suicide put his name in the spotlight.
Miller, 45, was released on $776 bond on Thursday in Horry County for the third-degree assault and battery charge, according to county records.
His arrest comes after a reported confrontation with protesters outside his local church, Solid Rock at Common Market, on Wednesday. His attorney, Russell Long, could not be immediately reached, but his office told Fox News Digital he does not have any comment on his wife’s case.
Miller’s name was back in the news on Nov. 1, when the FBI confirmed to Fox News that they conducted an authorized search at Miller’s home in Myrtle Beach that Friday. It is unclear exactly what agents recovered from his home.
Mica Miller died by suicide in April. The 30-year-old woman was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in North Carolina’s Lumber River State Park, the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed. She had purchased a handgun on the same day she died.
The case received national attention as court documents highlighted the couple’s contentious relationship and Mica’s sisters demanded justice for her death on social media.
Mica had filed for divorce two days before she died, according to FOX 8 Greensboro.
MICA MILLER CASE: FBI CONDUCTS SEARCH OF SOUTH CAROLINA PASTOR HUSBAND’S HOME
The Millers’ friend, Alicia Young, told Fox News Digital that at least 25 FBI agents were at John-Paul’s home for five hours collecting evidence. The evidence collection included removing fingerprints off the doors.
Young said that John-Paul had left the residence just two minutes prior to FBI agents arriving “and they found and served him at Starbucks.”
SC PASTOR’S WIFE MICA MILLER TOLD POLICE SHE WAS BEING TRACKED BEFORE HER SUICIDE: DOCS
“He was not allowed to go to his house while they were there, and he is in their custody for questioning,” she said.
John-Paul has not been charged with any kind of crime related to his wife’s death, and the Robseon County Sheriff’s Office said at the conclusion of their investigation that John-Paul had an alibi the day Mica died.
“Investigators learned through interviews that John Paul Miller was at an athletic event in Charleston on the day of Mica Miller’s death. John Miller’s vehicle was observed traveling on Hwy 17 Bypass, in Horry County at 2:22 pm on April 27, 2024,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release. “The investigation confirmed that John Miller was accompanied while traveling to and from the event in Charleston, SC.”
The Solid Rock Ministries website has been deleted, and John-Paul appears to be working on moving the church’s location, according to FOX 8.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.