December 22, 2025 • 20 mins
We continue our deep dive into the death of Mica Miller, focusing specifically on April 27, 2024 — the day Mica died. Using police records, surveillance footage, 911 calls, and court filings, we walk through a detailed timeline of Mica’s movements, including her purchase of a firearm, her final phone call to 911, and the search efforts at Lumber River State Park.
We also examine where John-Paul Miller was at the time, what law enforcement has confirmed, and the official conclusions reached by investigators. This episode also covers events leading up to and following Mica’s death, including:
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We also examine where John-Paul Miller was at the time, what law enforcement has confirmed, and the official conclusions reached by investigators. This episode also covers events leading up to and following Mica’s death, including:
- Claims made by JP Miller after her passing
- Allegations involving church finances that were later deemed civil, not criminal
- Statements released by law enforcement and JP’s attorney
- Court filings by Mica’s sister seeking control of Mica’s estate
- The legal implications of a pending divorce and South Carolina’s Slayer Statute
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's you know, alibiers. Welcome to another episode of Pretty
Lies and Alibis. I'm Jigi. Good to have you here.
It's Sunday, December twenty first. Today we are going to
keep going on our deep dive into the death of
Micah Miller. I'm doing this on the heels of JP
Miller being indicted by the FEDS or one count of
cyberstalking and one count of lying to investigators related to
(00:24):
Micah's death. So on the last episode, we laid out
some of the main points about their marriage and their separation,
and on this episode we're going to look into the
day Micah died. There is a very detailed timeline with
surveillance and a few other things before we wrap it up.
If you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to hit subscribe,
like the video, hype the video, and share it with
(00:46):
your friends. Doing all those things is the best way
you can help this podcast, and I appreciate all y'all.
So on May six, twenty twenty four, Andrew Fancher with
Fitznews posting an email allegedly sent to Micah from JP.
It says, Hey, Micah, I hope you're doing well. I'm
ready to be done and move on and heal and
(01:06):
find a first lady who won't treat me the way
you are. I really hope you do great things. I
was willing to do anything. I even had the amazing
desire to have kids. Since you're not on meds and
I want to apologize for the flowers and fruit it
was already paid for to last year until your birthday,
feel free to give it all away. I sent that
(01:27):
to you before I found out all the things that
I have recently found out about you and what you've done.
You discussed me. So please let's meet soon and be
divorced and let this nightmare be over for me. I'm
enjoying all the Africa missions, and Pastor Jumba and all
the pastor's wives are so excited for what we're doing.
We expect one hundred and twenty kids our first semester.
(01:50):
I have about ten to twelve people going this time,
including Kristen and Tom as well as Becca and Jonathan, etc.
I need to move on asap. I need a woman
who will respect me and love me and be worthy
of all that. Being a first lady is about gross,
disgusting way to gaslight there, buddy, now. After Micah's death,
(02:10):
JP made several claims that supposedly happened before her death,
so we're going to go over those. During a ministry
trip to Africa in December twenty twenty three, Micah said
God saved her from self harm a few years earlier.
He said, on January thirtieth, Micah asked him to be
her life coach and then purchased a Bible with both
(02:30):
their names engraved on it. On February sixth, when Micah
was hospitalized at Wakama Mental Health, this, by the way,
was involuntary. He filled out intake form saying that Micah
was homicidal, wanting to hurt herself, hallucinating, delusional, and much more.
He said. On February fifteenth, Micah showed up at Solid
(02:50):
Rock Church in a manicked state. February twenty fourth. JP
filed probate papers at Wakama Mental Health. March nineteenth, he
said he and Micah spoke for four hours, where she
said she wanted to get back on her medication and
come back home, but feared being disowned by our family.
Another thing is a report was made about Micah two
(03:11):
police about alleged embezzlement at the church. It was dated
March thirteenth, but according to police, a complaintant said a
church employee identified as Micah was collecting donations for the
church's five OHO one c three dared to Care mission,
and those funds were intended for a mission trip to Kenya.
The complaint alleged on February fourteenth, donation funds totaling one thy,
(03:36):
one hundred and ninety nine dollars from the church's zell
and cash app accounts, along with cash donations, were deposited
into Micah's personal bank account. Later on, Myrtlebeach's Police confirmed
that detectives had reviewed the case with the city attorney
on April eighth. They determined there was no probable cause
for criminal charges and classified this as a civil dispute.
(04:00):
So what happened the day Micah died? April twenty seventh,
twenty twenty four. We have a lot of surveillance to
accompany this. I'm going to put a timeline on the
screen as well as some of the surveillance, but I
am going to eventually upload this surveillance independently on the
YouTube channel. At ten thirteen am, Micah is seen leaving
(04:20):
her residence on ring camera. At eleven am, she is
seen arriving back home. Eleven thirty eight, she is seen
leaving her residence. At twelve twelve pm, Micah is seen
on surveillance cameras walking into Dick's Pawnshop in Myrtle Beach.
Twelve thirteen, Micah is seen buying a firearm. Twelve thirty four,
(04:41):
she leaves the pawn shop and she bought the firearm
as well as ammunition. One oh six pm, Micah is
seen in her black Honda Accord traveling on Highway five
oh one near four Mile Road in Conway, South Carolina.
So if you're not familiar with the area, if you
leave Myrtle Beach and drive to com Way, you are
driving away from the coast. One twenty seven pm, Micah
(05:04):
arrives at forty one Grocery and Grill on Highway forty
one in Mullins, South Carolina. She leaves after fueling up
and going inside to buy a drink. At two fifty four,
Mica calls nine to one one asking if her phone
could be located and indicated she was going to take
her own life now. She did hang up on the
(05:24):
dispatcher before they could get further information. Dispatch did try
to call her back several times with no answer. I'm
going to play this nine to one one call and
just a trigger warning. It's very heartbreaking, but it's part
of the story and bless her heart. So let's listen
to that.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Robinson County ninmue one. What's the address of your emergency?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Are you able to trace the location of my phone?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Let me see you don't know where? You're at?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
A national park?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
What's the phone me? Where you're calling me from? Where's
the park located at.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
In Fair Bluff? Let's see, I have my location on
I think on my phone? Find my phone is on?
Just did my shila my location?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Okay, I'm showing hold on one second, I don't thank
you are in Robinson County at Lumbi the Lumber River
State Park.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Yeah, that's where I am.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Okay, tell me what's happened.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I'm about to kill myself and I just want my
family to know where to find me.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Okay, ma'am, just listen to what I'm saying. Okay, let
me make sure I got the exact location where you're at. Okay,
just one minute.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Now, after dispatch was unable to reconnect with Micah. At
three oh three PM, deputies are dispatched to the lumber
River State Park for a welfare check. At three twenty
deputies request of phone peeing for Micah's phone. At three
point thirty three, a drone was put up to assist
in the search. During the aerial search, a man approaches
(07:02):
law enforcement saying that he found a bag while he
was fishing which had Micah's ID inside. The man also
reported he heard crying followed by a gunshot. He went
further in the area where he heard this and found
her bag approximately two feet from the edge of the water.
At four twenty three PM, a man calls nine one
(07:23):
one saying that he's located Mike's body while fishing on
his kayak. I'm going to play his nine to one
one call. Now some of it is broken up, but
I'm going to remove the parts that you can't understand
and play only what we can hear clearly.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Robertson County No. One, what's the address of your emergency?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Okay, I'm in Princess Land State Park and I just
made contact with a deputy. I didn't get his name.
I think I just found a body in the water
down there. If you know was based here, you can
tell me the way he just talked to the white male,
(08:01):
orange T shirt and the kayak. He'll know where I'm at.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Okay, hold on, let's take it for me.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
At five thirty PM, detectives arrive at the location and
there was a request for the medical examiner to respond
to the scene. Micah's car was found and photographed by
a crime scene technician. They also collected evidence from the
car as well as where her body was found. Investigators
found a six hour gun case in the passenger seat,
as well as a box of AMMO in the center console.
(08:32):
There was the receipt for the purchase of the firearm
and the AMMO at seven to eleven PM. The firearm
is located in the water. So where was JP at
the time of Micah's death. He was in Charleston at
an athletic event. Law enforcement confirmed he left on April
twenty sixth, and the next day a car was seen
driving on Highway seventeen bypass in Oor County around two
(08:56):
twenty two pm. He was accompanied by someone to and
from the event and stayed overnight in Charleston. This was
confirmed both by eyewitnesses and license plate readers, So the
backlash and the accusations against JP were fast and furious
as more information came out. In a press release for
information about Mike's death, they included this at the end.
(09:20):
It says, quote first, let me say on behalf of
the Robinson County Sheriff's Office that our sincere condolences are
being sent to the family and friends of Micah Miller.
This incident has garnered much attention from across the Carolinas
and beyond. I want to assure everyone that a very
methodical investigation was conducted by our criminal investigations team and
(09:41):
crime scene investigative team. Unfortunately, rumors and conspiracy theories were
spreading quickly and assumptions were being made. However, in the end,
we must make decisions based on the facts and evidence
that has been gathered. While I know it's not what
many people want to hear, the evidence is quite clear
and compelling and we are as saddened as anyone that
(10:04):
this occurred. There are many factors that we have reviewed
that occurred over an extended period of time that are
probably related to the reason for this investigation. But in
the end, Sadly, a tragic decision was made by Micah
that ended her life. Now, not even a week after
Micah's death, her sister, Sierra filed the petition to be
(10:24):
named the special administrator of Micah's estate. Sierra was asking
to gain access and to take possession of any wills, deeds,
to cemetary plots, insurance policies, or other estate related documents
in Micah's safe deposit box. She wanted to preserve Micah's
portion of the marital estate, obtain confidential records from Wakmaw
(10:47):
Mental Health, Dalstrand Medical Center and Grand Strand Regional Medical Center,
and Victim's Advocacy. Since Micah filed for divorce right before
her death, her death did not automatically wipe out her
right to her share of marital property. Even though the
divorce itself was never finalized. Money and property or equitable
(11:07):
distribution isn't affected just because she died. Marital assets can
include Micah's share of the house, bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, businesses,
or any assets acquired during the marriage. It's not an
automatic fifty to fifty split, but the proceeds would be
(11:27):
distributed fairly based on law. I got the application Sierra
filed to be the special administrator. So let's look through
some of the important parts of that. And she does
include Micah's obituary, but because the divorce was pending and
not finalized, they were still legally married obviously at the
time of Micah's death. The goal of this was to
(11:48):
step in and freeze MICA's assets before JP could claim them.
Usually the spouse is first in line to handle all
the affairs, but the family is arguing, since they were
in the middle of a messy divorce and there were
allegations of abuse, letting JP control Micah's money, medical records,
and her will would be like letting the fox guard
(12:10):
the hen house. Essentially. One of the main reasons they
need this power is to find out if Micah had
a will, and if she did, it likely disinherited JP,
and if she didn't, under South Carolina law, as the
legal husband, he could inherit everything. So the family invoked
the slayer statue, which is a law saying you cannot
(12:31):
profit from a death you caused. We know if you
kill your spouse, you don't get the life insurance, the house,
or the bank account. The documents labeled JP as a
person of interest in her death. It mentions that even
though the investigation is ongoing, his potential culpability could disqualify
him from being in charge of Micah's estate. Now, normally
(12:54):
you would need a murder conviction for the slayer statute
to work. However, this filing point out a specific section
of law that does allow civil court to make its
own decision regarding the slayer statute, and the family doesn't
have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that JP killed her.
They only have to prove it by a preponderance of
(13:14):
the evidence, meaning it's just more likely than not fifty
one percent likely that he was in some way responsible.
And to back these claims up, they attached affidavis from
Micah's siblings and pointed to her attempts to get a
restraining order against JP just before she died. So, essentially,
even though Micah and JP were still legally married, her
(13:36):
family is asking a judge to treat him as if
he's already been convicted, and there is a South Carolina
law that has a loophole to argue that his alleged
coercive control and harassment made him legally responsible for her
death and therefore he shouldn't be able to touch a
single penny of her estate. Some of the things in
(13:57):
the filing by her sister is that she and Micah
texted daily and Micah would visit her in Gaffney once
a month. Gaffney is here in the Upstate. It's about
thirty minutes from Greenville. And if you've ever seen House
of Cards and seen the big peach on the side
of the road, that would be Gaffney. Micah expressed the
abuse and violence against her by JP to others, including
(14:20):
family members as well as members of the congregation. Micah
told her sister that people were following her, keeping tabs
on where she went, and thought JP actually hired people
to follow her. It says that JP later confirmed this.
During a sermon Sierra watched, Micah confided to her that
JP was moving assets in his names, such as the car.
(14:43):
He changed the deed to their house to the church
on the last episode, I said his son, so I
was mistaken it was to the church. But he did
transfer interest he had in a dueling piano bar called
Crocodile Rocks. Y'all. I used to go to Crocodile rocks
all the time at Broadway Beach. It is so fun
there and I was today years old when I learned
(15:04):
that JP had a slice of that. He also removed
Micah's belongings while she was in the mental health facility
and left them at someone's apartment. Micah didn't find out
until she was released from the hospital, but prior to
her admission to the hospital, Micah was gathering and sorting
the evidence she had to bring to an attorney to
support her claims against JP as to his abuse. His
(15:28):
character is paramours and associates he paid off or blackmailed,
and also while she was hospitalized, those documents, emails, and
files were removed from her phone, laptop, are and purse,
and those files were never recovered. Micah was also unable
to access her iCloud account, email, or Facebook profile. JP
(15:52):
continued to use one of her accounts, causing the recipient
of these communications to believe it was Micah communicating her sister.
Goes on to say that Micah talked about what she
wanted for her life after her divorce from JP. She
wanted to participate in mission trips and even live part
time in Kenya. In fact, she had already shipped some
(16:12):
of her belongings there.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
She said.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Micah was hopeful for her future after the divorce was finalized,
but she also expressed to her sister she was afraid
she would not make it to the divorce and her
life would be taken from her, and her sister believes
that Micah also expressed this to multiple other people, including family.
Micah stated on many occasions, quote, if I end up
with a bullet in my head, it was not by me,
(16:36):
it was JP. End quote. Mike afforded a text message
to the family group text saying that JP had been
served the divorce papers April twenty fifth, twenty twenty four,
just two days before Micah died. JP's attorney, Russell Long,
released a statement on May ninth that said, following the
untimely death of Micah Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations
(17:00):
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. Recent reports claimed
(17:22):
that Pastor Miller groomed his wife from the age of
ten years old couldn't be farther from the truth. It
has come to light that Micah struggled with mental illness,
specifically bipolar disorder, which, when not properly managed, led to
paranoid episodes and self destructive behavior. Again, Micah suffered from
mental illness, and some reports made by her in the
(17:44):
recent past are nonsensical. This unfortunate reality underscores the importance
of destigmatizing mental health issues and ensuring those affected receive
appropriate support and treatment. We wish to emphasize that after
a thorough investigation, it has been conclusively determined that MICA's
death was the result of a self inflicted gunshot wound.
(18:07):
This finding completely exonerates Pastor Miller of any wrongdoing. These
baseless claims and false reporting have caused immense distress and
harm Pastor Miller and his family and needs to stop immediately.
ABC fifteen spoke to JP shortly after Micah's death. He said,
Micah was probably the greatest wife anyone could ask for.
(18:30):
She was incredibly affirming. We spent every night together for
hours just talking and talking and talking. She had struggled
with self harm before. Each time we would help her
through it and take her to the doctor. And we
got her through it and everything was fine. She even
gave a few testimonies here at church that we have
on video. She battled self harm, but God took care
(18:51):
of her and got her through it. If you see
any type of sign, get them to the doctor. I
mean the second you see it, don't wait. And on
May fifth, an email was sent out to the congregation
saying that JP was being released from his job as
pastor at Solid Rock Baptist Church for a time of healing, counsel,
guidance and guidance pursuant to our governing instrument. So we're
(19:15):
going to lead that there for a day. I really
just wanted to cover the day Micah passed away, and
I wanted to add some things that happened before and
after that are relevant. We will keep going on this
deep dive. There is a lot more to go through,
but I just want to say ending this, if someone
you know is struggling, you can call the Self Harm
and Crisis Lifeline by dialing nine eight eight. That's available
(19:39):
in English or Spanish. Twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week. And also if you are someone you
love is in a domestic violence relationship, there is help
and you can get out. There's a twenty four to
seven hotline through the Hiding Place. That number is eight
eight eight three four one nine five sixty eight. They
(19:59):
can direct you to local resources if you are not
local to us, and they will walk you through all
the steps to get yourself out safely. So that's it
for today. I hope you guys have a good arrest
of your evening and we will see you soon.
What's you know, alibiers. Welcome to another episode of Pretty
Lies and Alibis. I'm Jigi. Good to have you here.
It's Sunday, December twenty first. Today we are going to
keep going on our deep dive into the death of
Micah Miller. I'm doing this on the heels of JP
Miller being indicted by the FEDS or one count of
cyberstalking and one count of lying to investigators related to
(00:24):
Micah's death. So on the last episode, we laid out
some of the main points about their marriage and their separation,
and on this episode we're going to look into the
day Micah died. There is a very detailed timeline with
surveillance and a few other things before we wrap it up.
If you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to hit subscribe,
like the video, hype the video, and share it with
(00:46):
your friends. Doing all those things is the best way
you can help this podcast, and I appreciate all y'all.
So on May six, twenty twenty four, Andrew Fancher with
Fitznews posting an email allegedly sent to Micah from JP.
It says, Hey, Micah, I hope you're doing well. I'm
ready to be done and move on and heal and
(01:06):
find a first lady who won't treat me the way
you are. I really hope you do great things. I
was willing to do anything. I even had the amazing
desire to have kids. Since you're not on meds and
I want to apologize for the flowers and fruit it
was already paid for to last year until your birthday,
feel free to give it all away. I sent that
(01:27):
to you before I found out all the things that
I have recently found out about you and what you've done.
You discussed me. So please let's meet soon and be
divorced and let this nightmare be over for me. I'm
enjoying all the Africa missions, and Pastor Jumba and all
the pastor's wives are so excited for what we're doing.
We expect one hundred and twenty kids our first semester.
(01:50):
I have about ten to twelve people going this time,
including Kristen and Tom as well as Becca and Jonathan, etc.
I need to move on asap. I need a woman
who will respect me and love me and be worthy
of all that. Being a first lady is about gross,
disgusting way to gaslight there, buddy, now. After Micah's death,
(02:10):
JP made several claims that supposedly happened before her death,
so we're going to go over those. During a ministry
trip to Africa in December twenty twenty three, Micah said
God saved her from self harm a few years earlier.
He said, on January thirtieth, Micah asked him to be
her life coach and then purchased a Bible with both
(02:30):
their names engraved on it. On February sixth, when Micah
was hospitalized at Wakama Mental Health, this, by the way,
was involuntary. He filled out intake form saying that Micah
was homicidal, wanting to hurt herself, hallucinating, delusional, and much more.
He said. On February fifteenth, Micah showed up at Solid
(02:50):
Rock Church in a manicked state. February twenty fourth. JP
filed probate papers at Wakama Mental Health. March nineteenth, he
said he and Micah spoke for four hours, where she
said she wanted to get back on her medication and
come back home, but feared being disowned by our family.
Another thing is a report was made about Micah two
(03:11):
police about alleged embezzlement at the church. It was dated
March thirteenth, but according to police, a complaintant said a
church employee identified as Micah was collecting donations for the
church's five OHO one c three dared to Care mission,
and those funds were intended for a mission trip to Kenya.
The complaint alleged on February fourteenth, donation funds totaling one thy,
(03:36):
one hundred and ninety nine dollars from the church's zell
and cash app accounts, along with cash donations, were deposited
into Micah's personal bank account. Later on, Myrtlebeach's Police confirmed
that detectives had reviewed the case with the city attorney
on April eighth. They determined there was no probable cause
for criminal charges and classified this as a civil dispute.
(04:00):
So what happened the day Micah died? April twenty seventh,
twenty twenty four. We have a lot of surveillance to
accompany this. I'm going to put a timeline on the
screen as well as some of the surveillance, but I
am going to eventually upload this surveillance independently on the
YouTube channel. At ten thirteen am, Micah is seen leaving
(04:20):
her residence on ring camera. At eleven am, she is
seen arriving back home. Eleven thirty eight, she is seen
leaving her residence. At twelve twelve pm, Micah is seen
on surveillance cameras walking into Dick's Pawnshop in Myrtle Beach.
Twelve thirteen, Micah is seen buying a firearm. Twelve thirty four,
(04:41):
she leaves the pawn shop and she bought the firearm
as well as ammunition. One oh six pm, Micah is
seen in her black Honda Accord traveling on Highway five
oh one near four Mile Road in Conway, South Carolina.
So if you're not familiar with the area, if you
leave Myrtle Beach and drive to com Way, you are
driving away from the coast. One twenty seven pm, Micah
(05:04):
arrives at forty one Grocery and Grill on Highway forty
one in Mullins, South Carolina. She leaves after fueling up
and going inside to buy a drink. At two fifty four,
Mica calls nine to one one asking if her phone
could be located and indicated she was going to take
her own life now. She did hang up on the
(05:24):
dispatcher before they could get further information. Dispatch did try
to call her back several times with no answer. I'm
going to play this nine to one one call and
just a trigger warning. It's very heartbreaking, but it's part
of the story and bless her heart. So let's listen
to that.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
Robinson County ninmue one. What's the address of your emergency?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Hi?
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Are you able to trace the location of my phone?
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Let me see you don't know where? You're at?
Speaker 4 (05:52):
A national park?
Speaker 2 (05:54):
What's the phone me? Where you're calling me from? Where's
the park located at.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
In Fair Bluff? Let's see, I have my location on
I think on my phone? Find my phone is on?
Just did my shila my location?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
Okay, I'm showing hold on one second, I don't thank
you are in Robinson County at Lumbi the Lumber River
State Park.
Speaker 4 (06:20):
Yeah, that's where I am.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Okay, tell me what's happened.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I'm about to kill myself and I just want my
family to know where to find me.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Okay, ma'am, just listen to what I'm saying. Okay, let
me make sure I got the exact location where you're at. Okay,
just one minute.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Now, after dispatch was unable to reconnect with Micah. At
three oh three PM, deputies are dispatched to the lumber
River State Park for a welfare check. At three twenty
deputies request of phone peeing for Micah's phone. At three
point thirty three, a drone was put up to assist
in the search. During the aerial search, a man approaches
(07:02):
law enforcement saying that he found a bag while he
was fishing which had Micah's ID inside. The man also
reported he heard crying followed by a gunshot. He went
further in the area where he heard this and found
her bag approximately two feet from the edge of the water.
At four twenty three PM, a man calls nine one
(07:23):
one saying that he's located Mike's body while fishing on
his kayak. I'm going to play his nine to one
one call. Now some of it is broken up, but
I'm going to remove the parts that you can't understand
and play only what we can hear clearly.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
Robertson County No. One, what's the address of your emergency?
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Okay, I'm in Princess Land State Park and I just
made contact with a deputy. I didn't get his name.
I think I just found a body in the water
down there. If you know was based here, you can
tell me the way he just talked to the white male,
(08:01):
orange T shirt and the kayak. He'll know where I'm at.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Okay, hold on, let's take it for me.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Okay, okay.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
At five thirty PM, detectives arrive at the location and
there was a request for the medical examiner to respond
to the scene. Micah's car was found and photographed by
a crime scene technician. They also collected evidence from the
car as well as where her body was found. Investigators
found a six hour gun case in the passenger seat,
as well as a box of AMMO in the center console.
(08:32):
There was the receipt for the purchase of the firearm
and the AMMO at seven to eleven PM. The firearm
is located in the water. So where was JP at
the time of Micah's death. He was in Charleston at
an athletic event. Law enforcement confirmed he left on April
twenty sixth, and the next day a car was seen
driving on Highway seventeen bypass in Oor County around two
(08:56):
twenty two pm. He was accompanied by someone to and
from the event and stayed overnight in Charleston. This was
confirmed both by eyewitnesses and license plate readers, So the
backlash and the accusations against JP were fast and furious
as more information came out. In a press release for
information about Mike's death, they included this at the end.
(09:20):
It says, quote first, let me say on behalf of
the Robinson County Sheriff's Office that our sincere condolences are
being sent to the family and friends of Micah Miller.
This incident has garnered much attention from across the Carolinas
and beyond. I want to assure everyone that a very
methodical investigation was conducted by our criminal investigations team and
(09:41):
crime scene investigative team. Unfortunately, rumors and conspiracy theories were
spreading quickly and assumptions were being made. However, in the end,
we must make decisions based on the facts and evidence
that has been gathered. While I know it's not what
many people want to hear, the evidence is quite clear
and compelling and we are as saddened as anyone that
(10:04):
this occurred. There are many factors that we have reviewed
that occurred over an extended period of time that are
probably related to the reason for this investigation. But in
the end, Sadly, a tragic decision was made by Micah
that ended her life. Now, not even a week after
Micah's death, her sister, Sierra filed the petition to be
(10:24):
named the special administrator of Micah's estate. Sierra was asking
to gain access and to take possession of any wills, deeds,
to cemetary plots, insurance policies, or other estate related documents
in Micah's safe deposit box. She wanted to preserve Micah's
portion of the marital estate, obtain confidential records from Wakmaw
(10:47):
Mental Health, Dalstrand Medical Center and Grand Strand Regional Medical Center,
and Victim's Advocacy. Since Micah filed for divorce right before
her death, her death did not automatically wipe out her
right to her share of marital property. Even though the
divorce itself was never finalized. Money and property or equitable
(11:07):
distribution isn't affected just because she died. Marital assets can
include Micah's share of the house, bank accounts, retirement accounts, vehicles, businesses,
or any assets acquired during the marriage. It's not an
automatic fifty to fifty split, but the proceeds would be
(11:27):
distributed fairly based on law. I got the application Sierra
filed to be the special administrator. So let's look through
some of the important parts of that. And she does
include Micah's obituary, but because the divorce was pending and
not finalized, they were still legally married obviously at the
time of Micah's death. The goal of this was to
(11:48):
step in and freeze MICA's assets before JP could claim them.
Usually the spouse is first in line to handle all
the affairs, but the family is arguing, since they were
in the middle of a messy divorce and there were
allegations of abuse, letting JP control Micah's money, medical records,
and her will would be like letting the fox guard
(12:10):
the hen house. Essentially. One of the main reasons they
need this power is to find out if Micah had
a will, and if she did, it likely disinherited JP,
and if she didn't, under South Carolina law, as the
legal husband, he could inherit everything. So the family invoked
the slayer statue, which is a law saying you cannot
(12:31):
profit from a death you caused. We know if you
kill your spouse, you don't get the life insurance, the house,
or the bank account. The documents labeled JP as a
person of interest in her death. It mentions that even
though the investigation is ongoing, his potential culpability could disqualify
him from being in charge of Micah's estate. Now, normally
(12:54):
you would need a murder conviction for the slayer statute
to work. However, this filing point out a specific section
of law that does allow civil court to make its
own decision regarding the slayer statute, and the family doesn't
have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that JP killed her.
They only have to prove it by a preponderance of
(13:14):
the evidence, meaning it's just more likely than not fifty
one percent likely that he was in some way responsible.
And to back these claims up, they attached affidavis from
Micah's siblings and pointed to her attempts to get a
restraining order against JP just before she died. So, essentially,
even though Micah and JP were still legally married, her
(13:36):
family is asking a judge to treat him as if
he's already been convicted, and there is a South Carolina
law that has a loophole to argue that his alleged
coercive control and harassment made him legally responsible for her
death and therefore he shouldn't be able to touch a
single penny of her estate. Some of the things in
(13:57):
the filing by her sister is that she and Micah
texted daily and Micah would visit her in Gaffney once
a month. Gaffney is here in the Upstate. It's about
thirty minutes from Greenville. And if you've ever seen House
of Cards and seen the big peach on the side
of the road, that would be Gaffney. Micah expressed the
abuse and violence against her by JP to others, including
(14:20):
family members as well as members of the congregation. Micah
told her sister that people were following her, keeping tabs
on where she went, and thought JP actually hired people
to follow her. It says that JP later confirmed this.
During a sermon Sierra watched, Micah confided to her that
JP was moving assets in his names, such as the car.
(14:43):
He changed the deed to their house to the church
on the last episode, I said his son, so I
was mistaken it was to the church. But he did
transfer interest he had in a dueling piano bar called
Crocodile Rocks. Y'all. I used to go to Crocodile rocks
all the time at Broadway Beach. It is so fun
there and I was today years old when I learned
(15:04):
that JP had a slice of that. He also removed
Micah's belongings while she was in the mental health facility
and left them at someone's apartment. Micah didn't find out
until she was released from the hospital, but prior to
her admission to the hospital, Micah was gathering and sorting
the evidence she had to bring to an attorney to
support her claims against JP as to his abuse. His
(15:28):
character is paramours and associates he paid off or blackmailed,
and also while she was hospitalized, those documents, emails, and
files were removed from her phone, laptop, are and purse,
and those files were never recovered. Micah was also unable
to access her iCloud account, email, or Facebook profile. JP
(15:52):
continued to use one of her accounts, causing the recipient
of these communications to believe it was Micah communicating her sister.
Goes on to say that Micah talked about what she
wanted for her life after her divorce from JP. She
wanted to participate in mission trips and even live part
time in Kenya. In fact, she had already shipped some
(16:12):
of her belongings there.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
She said.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Micah was hopeful for her future after the divorce was finalized,
but she also expressed to her sister she was afraid
she would not make it to the divorce and her
life would be taken from her, and her sister believes
that Micah also expressed this to multiple other people, including family.
Micah stated on many occasions, quote, if I end up
with a bullet in my head, it was not by me,
(16:36):
it was JP. End quote. Mike afforded a text message
to the family group text saying that JP had been
served the divorce papers April twenty fifth, twenty twenty four,
just two days before Micah died. JP's attorney, Russell Long,
released a statement on May ninth that said, following the
untimely death of Micah Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations
(17:00):
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. Recent reports claimed
(17:22):
that Pastor Miller groomed his wife from the age of
ten years old couldn't be farther from the truth. It
has come to light that Micah struggled with mental illness,
specifically bipolar disorder, which, when not properly managed, led to
paranoid episodes and self destructive behavior. Again, Micah suffered from
mental illness, and some reports made by her in the
(17:44):
recent past are nonsensical. This unfortunate reality underscores the importance
of destigmatizing mental health issues and ensuring those affected receive
appropriate support and treatment. We wish to emphasize that after
a thorough investigation, it has been conclusively determined that MICA's
death was the result of a self inflicted gunshot wound.
(18:07):
This finding completely exonerates Pastor Miller of any wrongdoing. These
baseless claims and false reporting have caused immense distress and
harm Pastor Miller and his family and needs to stop immediately.
ABC fifteen spoke to JP shortly after Micah's death. He said,
Micah was probably the greatest wife anyone could ask for.
(18:30):
She was incredibly affirming. We spent every night together for
hours just talking and talking and talking. She had struggled
with self harm before. Each time we would help her
through it and take her to the doctor. And we
got her through it and everything was fine. She even
gave a few testimonies here at church that we have
on video. She battled self harm, but God took care
(18:51):
of her and got her through it. If you see
any type of sign, get them to the doctor. I
mean the second you see it, don't wait. And on
May fifth, an email was sent out to the congregation
saying that JP was being released from his job as
pastor at Solid Rock Baptist Church for a time of healing, counsel,
guidance and guidance pursuant to our governing instrument. So we're
(19:15):
going to lead that there for a day. I really
just wanted to cover the day Micah passed away, and
I wanted to add some things that happened before and
after that are relevant. We will keep going on this
deep dive. There is a lot more to go through,
but I just want to say ending this, if someone
you know is struggling, you can call the Self Harm
and Crisis Lifeline by dialing nine eight eight. That's available
(19:39):
in English or Spanish. Twenty four hours a day, seven
days a week. And also if you are someone you
love is in a domestic violence relationship, there is help
and you can get out. There's a twenty four to
seven hotline through the Hiding Place. That number is eight
eight eight three four one nine five sixty eight. They
(19:59):
can direct you to local resources if you are not
local to us, and they will walk you through all
the steps to get yourself out safely. So that's it
for today. I hope you guys have a good arrest
of your evening and we will see you soon.
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