SC Pastor Arrested After Confronting Protesters Over His Wife’s Death

This story is about suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

John-Paul Miller, a South Carolina pastor, was arrested Wednesday night on charges of assault and battery, months after the controversy surrounding his late wife Mica Miller’s suicide thrust his name into the spotlight.

Miller, 45, was released Thursday in Horry County on $776 bail on third-degree assault and battery charges, according to county records.

His arrest comes after a reported confrontation with protesters outside his local church, Solid Rock at Common Market, on Wednesday. His attorney, Russell Long, could not immediately be reached, but his office told Fox News Digital he has no comment on his wife’s case.

Miller’s name was in the news again on November 1 the FBI confirmed to Fox News that they had conducted an authorized search of Miller’s home Myrtle beach that Friday. It is unclear what exactly the officers recovered from his home.

Mica Miller died by suicide in April. The 30-year-old woman was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound North Carolina’s Lumber River State Parkthe Robeson County Sheriff’s Office previously confirmed. She had bought a gun the same day she died.

The case gained national attention as court documents highlighted the couple’s controversial relationship and Mica’s sisters took to social media to demand justice for her death.

According to FOX 8 Greensboro, Mica filed for divorce two days before her death.

The Millers’ girlfriend, Alicia Young, told Fox News Digital that at least 25 FBI agents were at John-Paul’s home for five hours to collect evidence. The evidence collection including removing fingerprints from the doors.

Young said John-Paul left the home just two minutes before FBI agents arrived “and they found him at Starbucks and served him.”

“He was not allowed to go to his home while they were there and he is in custody for questioning,” she said.

MICA MILLER 911 CALL REVEALS FINAL MOMENTS BEFORE HER DEATH AS NC AUTHORITIES CHALLENGE ‘CONSPIRACY THEORIES’

John-Paul has not been charged with any crime related to his wife’s death, and the Robseon County Sheriff’s Office said at the end of their investigation that John-Paul had an alibi on the day Mica died.

“Investigators learned through interviews that John Paul Miller was at a track and field event in Charleston on the day of Mica Miller’s death. John Miller’s vehicle was observed on Hwy 17 Bypass in Horry County on April 27, 2024 at 2:22 p.m.,” That the sheriff’s office said in a news release. “The investigation confirmed that John Miller was accompanied during his travel to and from the event in Charleston, SC.”

Solid Rock Ministries’ website has been taken down and John-Paul appears to be working on moving the church’s location, according to FOX 8.

Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.