This article contains discussions of suicide. If you or someone are struggling with thoughts of suicide, you can reach the National Crisis line by dialing 988 to find help in your area.
(NewsNation) — It’s been more than a month since Mica Miller was found in Lumber River State Park in North Carolina, where authorities say she took her own life, but her family has questioned that conclusion, and now, her estranged husband is speaking out.
Miller was in the process of divorcing her husband, a pastor at Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After her death, her family members and friends have come forward with allegations of abuse.
John-Paul Miller took to TikTok, saying his recent silence is “nothing more than wisdom and self-control.”
In the video, Miller said he is planning to present more than 350 pieces of proof that show his side of the story. That includes information on what Mica Miller thought about her family and her lawyer.
“People forget Mica corresponded with me more than anybody else on planet Earth,” Miller said. “I know her heart, and I have her text messages, and we’re going to disprove all the lies that are out there.”
NewsNation has repeatedly reached out for an interview with John-Paul Miller, who said over text message that his lawyers advised him to wait a few more weeks.
Previously, Miller had denied abuse allegations from his estranged wife over text.
“I have never once in my entire life ever hurt her in any way. Ever,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mica Miller’s sisters said in court filings that John-Paul Miller abused her, and they point to incidents like one captured on Mica Miller’s cell phone, where John-Paul Miller is heard threatening her.
They say there is so much more to the story that authorities need to look at.
“The weeks leading up to her death, she was getting all of the paperwork ready to expose him,” Anna Francis said. “She was prepared for something really bad to happen to her.”
Francis said that is what authorities need to be investigating.
“She was finally ready to do the right thing and not be silent anymore,” Francis said. “She was finally to the point where she even told our family, you don’t have to be silent anymore.”
Mica Miller’s sisters also point to surveillance video that showed her spending 20 minutes at a gas station.
“I believe that there’s a very good possibility that she was lured to that area,” said Destinee Barrientos.
Francis and Barrientos don’t think Miller took her own life, pointing to the fact that the gun she purchased was an expensive $500 weapon and that there was no reason for her to be in the state park where she was found.
“[That was] a gun you would buy for protection,” Francis said. “Who buys a $500 gun just to out them? You don’t do that.”
They say the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office didn’t do a proper investigation, including not looking at events in the days prior to Miller’s death. The sisters say investigators weren’t interested in learning about past problems or the fact that Miller had found a tracker in her car.
They say police also didn’t consider that anyone other than John-Paul Miller could have been involved in her death.
Mica Miller’s family is asking state police and the FBI to take over and examine her death as a homicide.
“I’m asking Robeson County, if someone else wants to get involved to investigate this, just let them,” said Francis. “If the county feel like they’ve done the best they can do, why not allow someone else that wants to do it?”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or abuse, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233.
