COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – After months of calls for reform to the way S.C. judges are picked, some changes could be coming – but lawmakers will have to work quickly.

The state’s House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a bill to modify the process by which lawmakers selects judges.

This bill would expand the number of people on the judicial screening panel – to give the governor some selections – for a process in which he currently has no role.

It would allow that screening panel to advance the names of more qualified candidates to appear on the ballot for the full legislature’s election of judges.

And it would also require candidates for magistrate judgeships be screened – which doesn’t happen right now.

“Certainly believe that this is going a long way to restore the public’s trust at the end of the day, and I think that anytime that we bring some more transparency to the process, that ultimately is a good thing,” said Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun.

The Senate passed this bill earlier this year – but with some key differences – so the two chambers will likely have to work out a compromise to send to the governor.

There’s not much time to dawdle: State law requires the General Assembly wrap up its work for the legislative session by 5 p.m. Thursday.

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In the past two recruiting cycles, Shane Beamer and the South Carolina Gamecocks have signed and held onto eight blue-chip prospects on the defensive side of the ball. Currently, the Gamecocks have one blue-chip defensive prospect committed to them in the 2025 class, four-star cornerback Shamari Earls, out of Virginia. However, Carolina remains in contention for several other targets on their board, including four-star athlete Lagonza Hayward, who included the SEC program in his Top 7 released on Tuesday morning. South Carolina remains in the race for Hayward’s pledge alongside other programs like Tennessee, Florida State, Southern Cal’, Florida, Georgia, and Alabama.

Loganza is currently listed as a safety by On3 Sports, whose Industry Ranking slots him as the 13th-best safety and 113th-best overall prospect in the country and the 15th-best prospect in the state of Georgia. According to his On3 profile, Hayward has only visited Columbia once, with Florida State and Alabama both sitting at the top, having drawn two visits each.

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Mica Miller, the wife of a South Carolina pastor she accused of being abusive before she was found dead, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the local medical examiner.

The 30-year-old’s death was ruled a suicide by the Robeson County Medical Examiner, Richard Johnson, ABC 15 reported Monday.

“Based on the nature of the wound, that it is consistent with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. And it was not in the back of the head, as it has been speculated,” Johnson told the local news station.

Miller was found dead at Lumber River State Park on April 27 — two days after her husband Pastor John Paul Miller, of Solid Rock at Market Common congregation, was served divorce papers by her, according to court documents.

Before her death, she reportedly told her sister that if she was ever found dead in the exact manner she was found in the park, her husband was responsible, according to an affidavit filed by her younger sister Sierra Francis in Horry County Probate Court.

“Mica stated to me on many occasions “if I end up with a bullet in my head, it was not by me, it was JP,” Francis wrote in the sworn affidavit obtained by the Christian Post.

Miller — who met her husband when she was just 14 or 15 years old, while he was between 28 and 29 — reportedly feared for her life and spoke about being violently abused by her husband to her family and other church members, Francis said in the affidavit she submitted seeking to be appointed the special administrator of her sister’s estate.

In the weeks before her death, she discovered a tracking device on her car and had her tires slashed more than once, Miller’s brother Nathaniel Francis said in a separate affidavit.

John Paul reportedly confessed and apologized to Miller for the tire slashing and damage to her car via emails that Miller forwarded to her brother.

“Mr. Miller’s email to my sister continued to state that he was angry when Mica confided or ‘put family before’ him and that made him want to hurt her,” her brother said in the document. “In his words ‘When someone hurts me, I try to hurt them back rather than forgive,’ and ‘instead of me forgiving you …. I just attack and try to cause pain.’”

Police reports obtained by 15 News dated March 11 detail the alleged stalking of Miller though the suspect’s name was redacted.

Miller told officers she “was afraid for her life” as the suspect showed up where she was numerous times the same day — with mechanics later finding a tracking device on her vehicle.

Even while Miller was in the presence of a police officer while out front of the Magistrate’s office to get a restraining order, the suspect drove by slowly before speeding off, according to the report.

In some of her last Facebook posts, Miller spoke out in support of abuse survivors in a video and captioned a photo of herself: “When terrible terrible TERRIBLE things happen to you… (yall know what I’m talking about;) RPF: resting peace face.”

Her pastor husband told the Christian Post that his wife, whom he wed in 2017, suffered from “bipolar II, schizophrenic and dependent personality disorder” and did not always take her medication.

He said that she had made previous attempts to take her own life and went to the hospital for mental treatment on multiple occasions.

“I would never expose this stuff of her if I didn’t have to now, but every time she tried to kill herself, I would be there. I would literally sometimes pick her up physically, put her in the truck, take her to the [hospital],” he told the religious outlet — claiming that he has video of his wife testifying that she previously tried to shoot herself in the head.

But Miller’s sister said she was looking towards the future and was looking forward to her life after the divorce as she planned to move to Kenya part-time to do missionary work.

The family is asking for justice for Miller and a full investigation into her death.

The pastor — who casually announced his wife took her own life at the end of his sermon during mass — has since been released from all ministerial duties at his church, Solid Rock, 15 News reported.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.