South Carolina Pastor John-Paul Miller, whose wife Mica’s death in April was ruled by local authorities to be a suicide, recently addressed ongoing speculation by internet sleuths. In a May 30 interview, true-crime podcaster JustinOnTikTok asked Miller, 44, about a diamond necklace the pastor was wearing the day after his wife’s death. Miller said that was indeed his deceased wife’s jewelry and that a nurse had given it to him at the hospital.
Miller, founder of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, denies any involvement in killing, abusing, or grooming his wife, who was 14 years his junior. In late April, Miller told congregants her death was “self-induced” and the result of mental illness.
Mica Miller’s family strongly disagrees. They say the 30-year-old woman had just filed for divorce from John-Paul, who created “toxic environments” and was having an extramarital affair.
John-Paul Miller Had ‘Forgotten’ He Was Wearing the Necklace
Justin Shepherd, who has more than 1 million TikTok followers, told John-Paul Miller that people were “asking questions” about the diamond necklace he wore following his wife’s death. It appeared similar to jewelry Mica was seen wearing in CCTV footage from the day she died.
“Was that actually hers, or did you just have a similar one?” Justin asked. The pastor replied that it was “definitely hers.” He said his wife “passed away” on a Saturday (April 27), and “then Sunday when I went and saw her [body], they handed me some stuff, and that was one of the things [they] handed me.”
Miller said a nurse gave him the necklace and that “before I even left the hospital, I already…had it on.”
About wearing the necklace afterward, Miller said, “I just had not taken it off and actually I [had] forgotten it was on, on the next day or two, or whenever the interview was. But yeah, it’s a girl necklace, so I just wanted to feel close to her.”
Miller elaborated on the jewelry, saying his wife “heard about these lab diamonds” last year, and although she loved “her wedding engagement band, she wanted the diamond—the real diamond—taken out. She wanted a lab diamond put in. But she didn’t want to get rid of that diamond. So, she wanted to put it inside of a necklace, and…had it made into a necklace.”
Protesters Gather Outside John-Paul Miller’s Church
On Sunday (June 2), dozens of protesters stood outside Miller’s South Carolina church, demanding justice for Mica. People carried signs that read “Love should never hurt” and chanted slogans such as “Your silence is permission.”
Organizer Alexandra Cuozzo said the group will return every Sunday until justice is served. “I’ve actually learned a lot about spiritual abuse, and I didn’t really know that was a kind of abuse,” she told a local TV station. “When I started learning about it—the control and the manipulation—it kind of just hit me hard that it’s here in our backyard.”
