Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, resources or someone to talk to, you can find it at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website or by calling 1-800-273-8255. People are available to talk to 24×7.
(NewsNation) — South Carolina pastor John-Paul Miller exchanged flirtatious messages with a waitress before and after his wife died by suicide, the server told NewsNation.
The waitress shared with NewsNation a receipt she received from a customer Feb. 23. The receipt bears the name John-Paul Miller and includes a $20 tip and a phone number with a happy face next to it.
He signed the receipt just two months before his wife, 30-year-old Mica Miller, filed for divorce.
The waitress, whom NewsNation agreed to identify only by her first name Christiana, reached out to John-Paul Miller soon after and exchanged text messages.
He repeatedly asked Christiana to send pictures of herself, including bikini pictures, and called her “super hot.” The pastor never asked to meet in person, she said.
“I was pretty aware of things from the beginning,” Christiana said. “I had some suspicions. There were some red flags. I did some research before I even texted him and then after I did, I spoke with a friend of mine, whose friend had a very negative experience — a mortifying experience, really — with him and his church.”
Christiana declined to share specifics about that experience, saying it was the other woman’s “story to tell.”
“I know that she witnessed some things that were not appropriate and faced some harassment when she tried to speak out about it,” Christiana said.
Their correspondence stopped until news broke of Mica Miller’s death. Christiana then reached back out to John-Paul Miller.
“I asked him if anything was new and he more or less said, ‘Yes, lots new lol. I’ll text later,’” Christiana said.
The Robeson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating Mica Miller’s death after her body was found April 27 at Lumber State Park in Lumberton, North Carolina. She died of apparent self-inflicted fatal wound, according to police and the medical examiner.
John-Paul Miller announced her death the following day to his congregation, claiming the 30-year-old had taken her own life after struggling with mental illness.
“I got a call late last night, my wife has passed away,” John-Paul Miller said. “It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina.”The pastor asked the congregation not to discuss her death inside the church.
Solid Rock Church has since released John-Paul Miller from his senior pastor duties.
Mica Miller had filed multiple times for a legal separation from John-Paul Miller, according to reports. She most recently filed for divorce in October 2023.
She told police in March that she feared for her life, citing harassment allegations.
A friend of the 30-year-old said she spoke to Mica Miller multiple times the week she died, and she said Miller’s final text to her on the Friday night before she died did not sound like a woman about to die, but rather a woman making plans to live.
“I feel that we have a rampant problem in our country and especially in our churches with this type of behavior, and I feel that it needs to be brought to light, so I saw an opportunity and I took it,” Christiana said.