Pastor's wife's cause of death confirmed after he announced her death to his congregation

Newly released reports confirm a South Carolina pastor's wife's cause of death after he announced her passing to the congregation.

As previously reported, Mica Miller, aged 30, was discovered on April 27 in Lumber River State Park with a gunshot wound to the side of her head.

John-Paul Miller, pastor of Solid Rock Church in Myrtle Beach, shared the tragic news of his wife's passing during a Sunday service.

"I got a call late last night, my wife has passed away. It was self-induced and it was up in North Carolina," he told the audience.

Miller expressed the challenges his wife faced, saying: "Y’all pray for me and my kids and everybody. You all knew she wasn’t well mentally and she needed medicine that was hard to get to her."

The pastor added that Mica had "struggled" with suicidal thoughts before but "God took care of her and got her through it," per The New York Post.

The relationship between the couple was reportedly strained, with divorce proceedings underway, per ABC 30.

The divorce case was reportedly dismissed in February, but a few days later, the pastor filed for “separate support and maintenance,” seeking financial support as the couple were still legally married, according to court records obtained by the NYP.

In April, Mica also filed for “separate support and maintenance” with a hearing scheduled for June 5.

Mica's concerned loved ones were taken aback by the heartbreaking news of her death and urged officials to look into it.

“This has to be at least looked into deeply. There’s got to be some accountability here,” Kenn Young told WPDE. “Because yeah, a tragic life was lost, and it’s not just as simple as mental health issues.”

Shortly after, the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office opened an investigation into the shooting. It has now been determined by Robeson County Medical Examiner Dr. Richard Johnson that Mica did pass away from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“Based on the nature of the wound, it is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. And it was not in the back of the head, as it has been speculated," Dr. Johnson explained, per WPDE.

Johnson said that while he wasn’t the on-call medical examiner on the weekend Mica died, he did go to the scene to assist them.

Prior to her death, Mica wrote an affidavit to her attorney where she claimed she had been “abused in every way I can think of".

She had also shared a video on Facebook addressing the topic of abuse, offering advice to those in similar situations.

After the video circulated online, Miller's lawyer Russell Long issued a statement to the New York Post, which read: "Following the untimely death of Mica Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Miller’s involvement in her demise.

"This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to be proliferating these falsehoods, on a mammoth proportion. Our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife," they concluded.

Featured image credit: Alan_Lagadu / Getty