As Mica Miller’s family continues to call for a more robust investigation into her death, her sisters have taken aim at her pastor husband John-Paul Miller, 44, who wears her diamond necklace in public.
John-Paul, aka JP, told NewsNation’s Rich McHugh via text message that the necklace was in fact Mica’s and that “the hospital gave it to me when I saw her body,” adding, “I got it immediately put on, to feel close. to her. She loved that necklace.”
John-Paul, a pastor at Solid Rock Ministries in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, also confirmed that the necklace he wore in a recent ABC15 interview belonged to Mica.
In an interview with NewsNationMica’s sister Destinee Barrientos didn’t believe John-Paul’s reasoning for wearing the pendant.
“In our opinion, it’s not something to feel close to her, it’s more of a trophy. It’s more of something that’s essentially almost something to still hang over her head. She tried to get away, and so I think this is the last bit that she can’t get away,” Barrientos said.
Mica’s sister Destinee Barrientos, left, says her John-Paul now wears her favorite diamond necklace as “a trophy” and not “to feel close to her.”
Mica Miller, left, and John-Paul Miller, right, are pictured wearing the same necklace. Mica is seen in Ring doorbell footage on the day of her death, wearing her favorite necklace, according to John-Paul
Mica, 30, had filed for divorce from John-Paul days before she was found dead of what the medical examiner said was a self-inflicted gunshot wound at North Carolina’s Lumber River State Park on April 27.
And that wasn’t the only time Mica filed for divorce from her husband, whom she met when she was just 14 years old as a member of his youth church group. She also filed for adultery in October 2023, but withdrew it in February 2024.
This evidence that Mica wants a breakup, plus John-Paul’s cavalier attitude after her death – including dating a new woman four days after Mica’s suicide – has led the family and passionate followers of the case to go official with the story. turned down. and insisting on answers.
The latest disturbing clue was spotted by Mica’s other sister Anna Francis, who said Mica’s body had unexplained bruises on her hands.
“There were definitely bruises on Mica’s hands that the medical examiner couldn’t remember, and I personally asked him if there was any chance that a body could have bruises from [being] taken out of the water or did anyone touch her after examining her?’ Francis asked.
The medical examiner said no, Francis told NewsNation, explaining that a body cannot bruise after the heart stops beating.
Mica (right) died by suicide on April 27, after alleging adultery on the part of her pastor husband
Mica’s sister Anna Francis said she saw bruises on Mica’s hands after her death. The medical examiner told her that bruising cannot occur when a person’s heart stops beating
“So our family, instead of grieving her at the funeral home, had to go into battle mode, go into investigation mode and do the work themselves because Robeson County failed to do a proper investigation,” Francis said.
“They made a beautiful PowerPoint that perfectly laid out all the reasons why she would have done this herself, and they didn’t explore the other side at all.”
The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, which is responsible for investigating Mica’s death, has been cooperating with the FBI and federal attorneys.
Although the FBI has not commented, it is believed that Mica kept a daily diary detailing her struggles and abusive marriage before her death.
One case of possible abuse came to light through disturbing text messages John-Paul sent threatening Mica’s family 18 months before his and Mica’s marriage collapsed.
At the time, he texted his sister-in-law Sierra that he would come to her house “armed” and “ready,” DailyMail.com reported.
Mica Miller’s sister Sierra (left) shared a series of disturbing text messages from her estranged husband during an altercation between the couple in 2022
Reports indicate that Miller sent a text message to Sierra saying he was on his way to her house, where Mica stayed in November 2022.
The uncertainty surrounding Mica’s death has prompted dozens of friends and residents to protest outside Solid Rock Church this Sunday.
One protester told NewsNation that the group would demonstrate outside the church every Sunday “until we find justice for Mica.”
Newly released surveillance footage of Mica making a routine stop at a gas station just hours before she was found dead only raises more questions for the family.
Mica’s father, Michael Francis, responded to the video, saying his daughter’s behavior did not reflect the behavior of someone who would want to hurt themselves.
‘I believe it was all staged. I believe the whole thing was premeditated,” Mica’s father, Michael Francis, told NewsNation in late May when the footage was made public.
The uncertainty surrounding Mica’s death has prompted dozens of friends and residents to protest this Sunday outside Solid Rock Church, where John-Paul still preaches.
One protester told NewsNation that the group will hold marches outside the church every Sunday ‘until we find justice for Mica’
In the video of her standing outside the gas station, Mica can be seen pulling her black sedan up to a pump before getting out of the car, opening her gas tank and walking inside.
At the store, she walks around the store before standing at a row of refrigerators, looking around, buying an energy drink and heading back out.
Mica, dressed all in black, then waits for her tank to fill up, and at one point she opens the driver’s side door, grabs her drink and takes a sip, before closing it and looking at the nozzle.
Once her tank is full, Mica takes the throttle off her car and drives away.
The owner of the remote gas station told NewsNation that when he saw Mica that day, he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
‘Nothing, nothing special. Nothing, you know, just a normal day, a normal thing,” the manager said.
Not only that, Angela Clark, a friend of Mica’s who was one of the last to speak to her, showed her text messages with Mica the night before she died.
Mica Miller was seen on surveillance footage at a remote gas station moments before she was found dead in a lake in Lumber River State Park on April 27.
She stopped her car at a gas station, walked into the store, bought an energy drink and walked out before filling up her tank and driving away
Clark said Mica texted her about plans for that weekend’s Sunday service and asked for help with car payments.
“This isn’t someone who’s ready to take their own life, this is someone who was making plans for the weekend, you know, getting her car payment paid off,” Clark said.
However, Mica posted a video on Facebook just weeks before her death in which she spoke about spousal abuse and offered support for “ANYONE struggling with leaving a dangerous situation because they think God will be ‘angry’ with them.”
‘God Hates Divorce, But Why? According to everyone I’ve asked and the scriptures I’ve seen, it’s because it hurts people. But does abuse hurt people? How do you think God feels about that?’ Mica added.
In the wake of allegations of abuse and grooming of young girls, including Mica, Solid Rock’s church has failed to attract as many parishioners, with one recent service having just 30 attendees.
John-Paul was released from his position as pastor at the church in early May.
Despite all that, Solid Rock Ministries has $5.59 million in real estate and a $430,000 four-seat plane that is supposedly used for missionary work.
The extreme criticism of John-Paul began when he stunned his congregants at a service the day after Mica died, announcing her “self-induced” death and adding that she was “mentally unwell.”