The woman who walked through divorce attorney Regina Ward's door was traumatized and she said she needed help.
Her seven-year marriage was falling apart, and she told Ward she was being followed and harassed. A GPS tracker was found by a mechanic affixed to her car: She had taken it to be repaired after someone slashed her tires. While the mechanic was working, someone approached her, fleeing when she pulled out her phone to record them.
Her husband called her up to 50 times in a single day and shared a nude photo of her online without her consent, the police report said. She told authorities she feared for her life, according to The Sun News, citing court documents they obtained.
The woman was clearly in need of protection. And yet, before walking through Ward's door, she had been repeatedly turned away.
'No one else would take her case,' Ward, a Myrtle Beach-based lawyer, told the Daily Mail. 'Because of who her husband was.'
The woman, 30-year-old Mica Miller, was married to John-Paul Miller, high-profile pastor of a popular non-denominational church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
One month after walking through Ward's door, Mica was dead.
And her husband is now awaiting trial on cyberstalking charges. He remarried swiftly and is still preaching to his flock. He has denied all allegations of abuse.
Mica Miller, 30, told authorities she feared for her life as her marriage was falling apart. One month after she sought help from a divorce attorney, she was dead
Mica was married to John-Paul Miller, high-profile pastor of a popular non-denominational church in Myrtle Beach
It's a grim end to a troubling story.
On April 27, 2024, Mica bought a handgun at a Myrtle Beach pawn shop then continued north for 70 miles, crossing the state line to reach North Carolina's Lumber River State Park.
At 2.54pm, she rang 911 to ask if they could track her phone, saying: 'I'm about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me.' Police discovered her body floating in the swampy waters of the park several hours later.
Ward was stunned when one of Mica's siblings phoned her to share the awful news. To this day, she cannot believe it.
And she hopes that a new Netflix documentary, Death of the Pastor’s Wife, out August 26, will provide some answers, and spark some change.
'The mission of Mica's life was to bring a bright shining light to this form of abuse,' Ward said. 'And this documentary, I hope and I believe, will make sure that after people watch it, they go: "I get it. This is a serious problem. Now I understand how awful and abusive this is, and I need to do something about it."
'Anybody watching should be mad as hell. They should be enraged. They should want to stand up and go out and demonstrate.'
Ward applied for a restraining order against John-Paul, as soon as Mica approached her.
But, because Mica was allegedly being harassed and intimidated verbally and digitally rather than physically abused, the South Carolina courts would not issue an immediate order.
'They still have this archaic thought that abuse only comes in the form of bruises,' said Ward, adding that the law needs urgent updating to include coercive control, which is manipulating and gaslighting someone into doing what you want.
'The issue with coercive control is that when you try to explain it to people, even the words you use - intimidation, harassment, all of these things - people can't mentally grasp the gravity, or the insidiousness, or the damaging effects of this form of abuse.'
Ward said that despite not being included in many state laws, coercive control is 'usually the leader to death in a lot of cases.'
She said: 'It leaves an indelible scar on the victim's mind. It brainwashes them. It takes away their self-worth. It isolates them from support, family and friends. It pushes them down financially, where money is controlled and not given. They feel like there's no way to escape. So they become trapped in this vicious cycle, and then the laws don't do much to help them out.'
Mica, originally from Kansas, moved to Myrtle Beach when she was 15 and met Miller that same year.
He presided over her wedding when she was 18 – by 21, however, she was divorced.
By 23, she was married to a 38-year-old Miller. The couple tied the knot in November 2017.
'No one else would take her case, because of who her husband was,' said divorce attorney Regina Ward
Mica, originally from Kansas, moved to Myrtle Beach when she was 15 and met Miller that same year
Miller presided over her wedding, when she was 18 – by 21, however, she was divorced. They married two years later
The photogenic pair's life looked, from the outside, to be charmed.
Mica led the women's division of the church, captivating the congregation with her beautiful singing voice and her warm smile.
John-Paul, a father of five from his first marriage, drew hundreds of worshippers every week with his charismatic sermons. Yet behind the scenes, all was not well.
In October 2023, six months before her death, she filed to separate from him, but revoked the petition shortly after.
On February 8, 2024, she was involuntarily hospitalized for 48 hours, under severe mental distress. When she was discharged, hospital staff told her that John-Paul had shown up without her knowledge and taken her purse and car keys, per a police report.
Throughout March, she posted a series of videos to Facebook, urging others not 'to stay in an abusive relationship, whether that's sexual, physical abuse, psychological abuse, making you think this is all your fault...'
She also, twice, reported finding her tires slashed.
Yet that month, she gathered the strength to leave the marital home and move in with her godmother in the hopes of separating for good.
Two weeks before her death, on April 15, 2024, Mica filed for a legal separation from John-Paul – the first step, under South Carolina law, towards getting a divorce. By the state's law, after a year of legal separation, a couple can then divorce.
Two days before she died, on April 25, John-Paul was served with the papers.
Police verified that he was not in North Carolina on the Saturday that Mica shot herself: He had spent Friday night in Charleston with his new girlfriend, who he has since married. On that Saturday, John-Paul's truck was seen driving from Charleston back to Myrtle Beach, and other people confirmed his whereabouts.
Yet Ward remains unconvinced of his insistence that her suicide had nothing to do with him, and was simply a result of her worsening mental health.
'Whether it was directly or indirectly, his hand was on it,' said Ward.
Mica led the women's division of the church, captivating the congregation with her beautiful singing voice and her warm smile
The photogenic pair's life looked, from the outside, to be charmed
About a month before her death, Mica left her marital home and moved in with her godmother in the hopes of separating for good
It was John-Paul who informed Mica's family, by way of a 6.30am text message on Sunday, that she had died.
'I thought u 2 should know,' he wrote, in a message obtained by FITS News. 'Mica killed herself earlier today. She needed her lithium because she has been having a 3 month psychotic episode. I’ll keep you posted on funeral.'
In another text message to several family members, seen by FITS News, he wrote: 'This is what happens when you try to encourage someone to divorce the person they love. And tell them they don’t need medicine. And that they’re not ill when they are. Good job Francis family.'
They reacted with fury, with one writing: 'How dare you even contact us? Talking like that.'
Her sister Sierra replied: 'You are the reason our sister is DEAD.'
And another said: 'It’s easy to shift the blame when that’s all you know how to do. No one told her not to take her meds, get that through (your) thick skull. You drove her crazy simple as that.'
John-Paul informed his Solid Rock congregation of Mica's death later that day, at the end of his usual Sunday service.
'I got a call late last night my wife has passed away,' he said, in a video-taped announcement shared on YouTube. 'Yeah. It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina and, um, we’re going to have a funeral for her next Sunday here at 3pm.'
He said he was 'going on adrenaline' and would take a 'bit of a break' from the church, but asked all those in attendance 'to continue to come to church, and serve, and give.'
'You all knew she wasn't well mentally, and she needed her medicine, that was hard to get to her.'
But locals in Myrtle Beach were unconvinced, and soon began picketing the Solid Rock church – showing up every Sunday with placards proclaiming, 'Justice for Mica.'
John-Paul's lawyer, Russell Long, on May 9, 2024, issued a statement denying his client had any involvement in her death.
'Following the untimely death of Mica Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Miller's involvement in her demise. This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to begin proliferating these falsehoods, on a mammoth proportion. Our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife.'
The protests continued, however, and were at times contentious.
Federal prosecutors charged Miller with cyberstalking Mica from November 2022 until her death
It was John Paul who told Mica's family about her death in an early Sunday morning text
Solid Rock eventually closed its doors as the congregation dwindled away, but John-Paul re-emerged as the pastor of Mercy Church, which operates out of a strip mall on the outskirts of Myrtle Beach, near the airport.
Protesters have followed him and his small flock, demonstrating outside the church every Sunday.
'It's just shocking that anybody walks through those doors, but they do, and he is still preaching,' said Ward.
The new Netflix show may change some attitudes, as may his forthcoming trial.
In December, federal prosecutors charged him with cyberstalking Mica from November 2022 until her death. He has pleaded not guilty but faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison for cyberstalking, and two years in prison for his false statements.
The next pre-trial hearing will be held in early October, in Florence, South Carolina, and a trial could be set for later this year.
Ward hopes that a new Netflix documentary about Mica, out August 26, will provide some answers
The Daily Mail has reached out to John-Paul's church and his lawyers for comment.
Given all the drama, it might be expected that John-Paul would lie low.
But Ward laughs at the idea.
'Are you kidding me?' she said. 'That man is the most egocentric textbook narcissist I think anybody's ever come across.
'He probably believes he can control the outcome of anything and everything at this point. So it doesn't bother him. He's not wired that way.
'Anybody else would pack up and lay low, but not him, because that's not how he operates.'
If you or a loved one is experiencing suicidal thoughts or actions, please contact the National Suicide Hotline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
