CONWAY, S.C. (Court TV) — Mica Miller‘s mother has formally announced plans to appeal a decision that leaves her late daughter’s estranged husband as her personal representative.
This image from Ring footage shows Mica Miller. (Robeson County Sheriff’s Office)
Mica Miller died on April 27, 2024, after investigators said she shot herself in the head at Lumber River State Park in North Carolina; before pulling the trigger, she called 911 to say she planned to take her own life.
Ten days before that 911 call, Mica Miller had filed for divorce from her husband, pastor John-Paul Miller. After her death, Mica Miller’s family members accused her estranged husband of psychological abuse that they claimed had led her to take her own life. The family explored filing a wrongful-death lawsuit, but entered into a settlement with John-Paul Miller in August 2024 that resolved all outstanding legal issues in the family and named the pastor as the personal representative of Mica Miller’s estate.
Months later, federal prosecutors filed charges against John-Paul Miller, accusing him of making false statements to investigators and cyberstalking and harassing Mica Miller from November 2022 until her death. He also faces lawsuits from two women who claim that he sexually assaulted them in the years before his marriage, when he was working as a teacher and pastor at his father’s church.
John-Paul Miller was arrested on Nov. 6, 2024, on a charge of assault and battery. (Myrtle Beach Police Department)
For those reasons, and because her family members say they still believe that John-Paul Miller had a hand in their daughter’s death, Mica Miller’s mother, Angelita Salas, asked a judge to remove John-Paul Miller as representative. In his order denying the request, Judge Charles Rhodes Jr. said the evidence showed the family and a special administrator assigned to the case knew of the allegations before entering into the 2024 settlement. In addition, Rhodes said, “No evidence established by a preponderance of the evidence that [John-Paul Miller] feloniously and intentionally killed the Decedent.”
Salas filed a notice of intent to appeal Rhodes’ decision but did not immediately make clear the basis for the appeal.
John-Paul Miller’s federal trial, which was scheduled to begin this month, was delayed until January 2027 after his attorneys said they were continuing to look for evidence to exonerate him.
