South Carolina pastor John-Paul Miller, 45, has found himself at the center of a national controversy after his wife Mica Miller’s apparent suicide and he was arrested on assault charges just days after an FBI raid at his home. He was charged with third-degree assault and battery. These chargers were about a confrontation with a “Justice for Mica” protester outside his Myrtle Beach church on Wednesday, according to local news.
The controversial pastor spent the night in jail and was released on a $776 bond during a 20-minute hearing the next morning. He appeared back in court on Dec. 10. Miller has been plagued with protests since his estranged wife, Mica Miller, died by suicide earlier this year. In a video of the confrontation, he berates a woman who claimed that he put his hands on her.
“What did you say? You walked right up to me,” Miller demanded of the woman in the video of the argument, which happened Wednesday. He was then seen waving his arms at the woman. Just one day before the heated interaction, Solid Rock, Miller’s church, was closed and the website and phone number were disconnected. Neither Miller nor a representative of the Church have commented.
A week before, the FBI raided John-Paul Miller’s home. A lawyer representing the embattled pastor claimed he had “no idea” what the search was related to. However, the pastor has been the center of controversy since his wife’s death. Mica Miller, his 30-year-old wife, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at North Carolina’s Lumber River State Park.
This was in April, several days after she served her husband with divorce papers. In the months since her suicide, Mica’s relatives have begged law enforcement to “deeply” investigate the case. His family also alleges that Miller had abused her. Mica had accused Miller of slashing her tires, installing a tracking device on her car, and hospitalizing her against her will. She also alleges “grooming” which began when she was just 10 years old.
The story made national news when Miller announced Mica’s death casually during a sermon at Solid Rock. He told his congregation “I got a call late last night, my wife has passed away. It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina.” He claimed that his late wife suffered from mental illness and had been hospitalized multiple times in the past
He has not only denied all the accusations of abuse and involvement in his wife’s death but has also claimed he tried to “raise her from the dead.” New of Mica’s allegations, and the FBI investigation have divided the church community. Damien McLean of the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office clarified that the investigation was “separate from (Mica’s) death.”
FBI seized a number of items several items from Miller’s home during the search last week, including some computer equipment, local news reported. The church building and Miller’s house are part of a $5.59 million real estate portfolio managed by Solid Rock Ministries, the outlet reported. Shortly after this incident, Miller was named as a registered agency for another entity, “Living Water Church at Market Common Inc.”