Mica Miller became nationally known after her death in April 2024 and the disturbing allegations surrounding her marriage to South Carolina pastor John-Paul “JP” Miller.
But JP was not Mica’s first husband.
Before becoming the pastor’s wife at the center of the Netflix docuseries “Death of the Pastor’s Wife,” Mica was married to Jeremy Deas.
Their marriage has received considerably less attention than her later relationship with JP. The new documentary, however, places that first marriage within an important period of Mica’s life.
Mica married Jeremy when she was only 18. The person who officiated their wedding was none other than John-Paul Miller—the pastor she would later marry herself.
That connection has become one of the striking details of Mica’s complicated history with Solid Rock Church.
Who Was Jeremy?
Jeremy Deas was Mica’s first husband.
Unlike JP Miller, Deas has largely remained outside the media attention surrounding Mica’s death and its aftermath.
He was connected to the same Myrtle Beach church community that played a major role in Mica’s teenage and early adult years.
Mica’s family had begun attending Solid Rock Church after moving to South Carolina.
She became deeply involved with the congregation while still young, particularly through music and worship.
It was there that she came under the influence of the church’s pastor, John-Paul Miller.
Married At 18
Mica married Jeremy in 2012 when she was 18 years old.
The wedding took place at a time when the church was central to her identity.
She had been involved in worship and had taken on responsibilities that friends and relatives later remembered as unusually significant for someone so young.
Her first marriage therefore unfolded within the same religious community where she had spent much of her adolescence.
There was another connection that would become far more significant years later.
JP Miller officiated the wedding.
JP Was The Pastor
Mica had known JP long before either became romantically involved.
She first encountered him as a teenager after her family began attending Solid Rock.
He was approximately 15 years older than her.
To Mica, JP was initially an authority figure—a pastor, church leader and mentor.
The Netflix documentary emphasizes that imbalance when reconstructing how their relationship developed.
After Mica married Jeremy, she also began working as JP’s assistant.
That put her in frequent contact with the pastor.
At the time, JP was married as well.
Working Together
The professional relationship between Mica and JP gradually changed.
According to accounts presented in the Netflix documentary, messages between them initially expressed appreciation before becoming increasingly romantic.
Mica’s sister Sierra Francis describes that shift as a gradual crossing of boundaries.
By 2015, the situation was no longer simply a private matter between two people.
A relationship had developed between Mica and JP while both were married.
The revelation caused turmoil not only inside their respective marriages but within the church community surrounding them.
The Affair
JP publicly addressed what he described as a “moral failing” before his congregation in July 2015.
The relationship with Mica became a scandal at Solid Rock.
Mica’s marriage to Jeremy subsequently came to an end.
JP’s existing marriage also collapsed.
He had been married to Alison “Ali” Williams, with whom he shared four children.
The consequences therefore reached across two families as well as the congregation.
Accounts of this period have become particularly important in retrospect because they show how Mica’s relationship with JP began years before the marriage that would later attract national scrutiny.
Two Divorces
Both relationships moved toward divorce.
Mica and Jeremy ended their marriage, while JP and Alison also separated.
Mica and JP then continued their relationship publicly.
Their transition from pastor and assistant to romantic partners remained controversial because of their age difference and the authority JP had held in Mica’s life since she was a teenager.
Those concerns became more significant years later when Mica’s relatives and friends began speaking publicly about what they believed she experienced inside the relationship.
Mica And JP
Mica eventually married JP in 2017.
By then, her life had become closely intertwined with both him and Solid Rock Church.
She served as a worship leader and became a visible part of the ministry.
From the outside, they could appear to be a prominent church couple.
Accounts from Mica’s relatives and friends later presented a much darker picture.
They alleged that JP exercised increasingly coercive control over Mica.
JP has disputed allegations made against him, and many of the claims surrounding their relationship have subsequently become subjects of litigation, federal charges and documentary examination.
Marriage Breaks Down
Mica repeatedly attempted to separate from JP during the final period of their marriage.
She contacted law enforcement and reported behavior she considered threatening or controlling.
She also spoke publicly about abusive relationships without always naming her husband.
By 2024, the marriage was collapsing.
On April 25, Mica served JP with divorce papers.
Two days later, on April 27, she was found dead at Lumber River State Park in North Carolina.
She was 30 years old.
Authorities ruled her death a suicide.
JP has not been charged in connection with her death.
National Attention
Mica’s death generated enormous public attention, particularly after her family raised questions about what she had experienced before she died.
Her previous reports to authorities and allegations involving stalking and harassment became central to the story.
The case eventually expanded beyond the circumstances of her death.
Federal authorities investigated JP’s alleged conduct toward Mica during the final years of their marriage.
In December 2025, a federal grand jury indicted him on cyberstalking and false-statement charges.
He pleaded not guilty.
His federal trial is currently scheduled for the October 2026 term.
Netflix Series
“Death of the Pastor’s Wife” premiered on Netflix in August 2026.
The three-part documentary reconstructs Mica’s story using family interviews, journals, text messages, church footage, police reports and other records.
Importantly, the series begins well before her marriage to JP.
It examines how Mica became involved with Solid Rock as a teenager and how JP moved from being her pastor and mentor to becoming her romantic partner.
That makes her marriage to Jeremy relevant to understanding the timeline.
JP was not a stranger who entered Mica’s life after her first marriage ended.
He had already been her pastor.
He officiated her wedding to Jeremy and later employed her as his assistant before their relationship became romantic.
Where Is Jeremy?
Jeremy Deas has not become a central public figure in the continuing Mica Miller story.
Unlike numerous members of Mica’s family, former church members and other people connected with the case, he has maintained a comparatively low profile.
That distinction is worth respecting.
The public record provides information about his marriage to Mica and its place within the broader timeline, but it does not justify speculation about his current life or private feelings concerning the case.
The person facing current federal charges is JP Miller, not Jeremy.
The First Marriage
For people searching “Mica Miller first husband,” the answer is Jeremy Deas.
Mica married Jeremy when she was 18, years before her death became the focus of national headlines and a Netflix documentary.
Their marriage also reveals an extraordinary connection between two different periods of her life.
The pastor who officiated Mica’s first wedding eventually became her second husband.
Mica worked as JP’s assistant while married to Jeremy, and the relationship between Mica and JP later became romantic while both still had spouses.
Those relationships ended, and Mica married JP in 2017.
Seven years later, she was dead at 30 while attempting to leave that marriage.
Jeremy’s role in Mica’s story may be relatively brief compared with the years of controversy involving JP, but her first marriage provides crucial context.
It shows just how long John-Paul Miller had occupied a position of influence in Mica’s life—and why the story explored in “Death of the Pastor’s Wife” begins long before Mica ever became the pastor’s wife.
