One woman’s fight for justice

Editor’s note: This story and the two accompanying it are the result of four months of interviews, research, and investigation. Allegations against Zachary Berryhill are yet to be proven in court.

“Why am I still banging on doors? ... I just want this to end …This would hurt the strongest person after so long …Enough is enough.”

For two years, Megan Miller has been seeking justice for what she says her alleged abuser, Zachary Edward Berryhill, has taken from her.

The last two years have been filled with filing charges with the Magistrate’s Office, making countless appearances in Burke County Courthouse rooms, and enduring harassment through threatening emails, texts, calls, social media messages from Berryhill himself and alleged recruited strangers.

A broken nose. Two black eyes. Two cracked teeth. Busted lips. Severe concussion that still impacts her physical abilities and vision. An attempted kidnapping. Burglary. Breaking and entering. Stalking. Drugging. The murder of her dog. Continuous graphic threats to kill Miller. Her kids abused. Years of research and notes compiled for almost-published novels and a textbook stolen. A computer taken.

The list goes on. And yet, despite about 40 filed charges and outstanding warrants against this man, Miller’s struggle continues.

Miller is a mother of two boys (11 and 13 years old) and a 16-year-old daughter who has a progressive disability and is in a wheelchair. She has dealt with the loss of her father and two husbands in the past few years. She’s a writer, a comedian, a well-versed researcher, an artist, and a jack of all trades.

Although each case is different, she is one of many victims dealing with the injustice of an abuser.

Preparing for her initial interview with The Paper in March, she wrote pages of notes detailing the things Berryhill had done to her, problems she encountered with the Magistrate’s Office, and the lack of communication between agencies.

In her interviews across four months, she said she appreciates the help she has received from law enforcement and the district attorney’s office, but does not understand why her case is unresolved when there is plenty of evidence against him.

Throughout telling her story, she sighs with frustration and holds her head of blondish hair in a lifted hand. She shakes her head as she recalls the trauma to her children and herself from her abuser. Here and there, she will remind herself why she is continuing to advocate for herself, because of her children, and to continue to be a role model.

“This is the only way to protect myself at this point,” Miller said, referring to talking with The Paper. If something were to happen to her or her kids, her case would be public.

“It is only a matter of time before he kills somebody … I don’t want it to be me.”

This ongoing situation has ruined relationships with friends and family, some of whom do not believe her story.

Here is Miller’s story.

BRIEF HISTORY

It began when Berryhill messaged Miller on Facebook around June/July of 2022. He had seen her at a TGIF concert and wanted to go out with her.

Dealing with losses in her family and being a single mom, she said she wasn’t ready for anything and refused to go out with him. Fast forward to May 2023, and the two started dating.

There were subtle red flags at first, like his pushiness in advancing their relationship or professing his love for her early on. Or the embellished stories he would tell about his childhood. Or the way he would get angry at her for small things like a pair of lost keys.

Berryhill traveled to Kentucky for work, so the two mostly saw each other on weekends. When he did visit, she started to feel very sleepy and nauseous. As it continued, she believed he was somehow drugging her.

In the back of her mind around August 2023, Miller was going to break up with him, but one weekend before returning to work, he broke up with her. When he did, she was secretly happy, so she didn’t act shocked or emotional. He didn’t seem too happy with her reaction or lack thereof.

After that, he continued to harass her through emails and text messages. She did not see him in person until he showed up on Halloween 2023 with a gift for her son. He inserted himself into their trick or treating, acting as part of the family and hugging her. Miller said that he knew she was scared and wouldn’t make a scene.

He continued to harass her until he showed up the night before Thanksgiving and followed her into her home as she was walking her dog. While threatening her and hiding her phone, he barricaded himself and Miller in her bedroom in the basement until 5 a.m. on Thanksgiving. She told him to leave and went up to begin cooking for the day.

Instead, he showered, cleaned himself up, and joined her family as if nothing had happened. Miller did not want to escalate the situation in front of her 80-year-old mother or her children.

KIDNAP AND ASSAULT

A month later on Christmas morning around 6 a.m., Berryhill returned and tried to break into her house. Her 10-year-old son asked if it was Santa and she ushered him back to bed. She scared off Berryhill by threatening to call the police and saying she had a gun.

However, the next night, he attempted to kidnap her. He had broken into her home and taken her phone. Miller said he was belligerent and accused her of cheating on him. He asked her if she was talking to other people, and with some sass, she said, “Obviously!” Miller said she was tired of his constant harassment and the lead-up to this moment.

Turning red, he grabbed her arms and head-butted her so hard that she momentarily blacked out. He held her up as he laid punch after punch while she was thinking, “If I pass out, he’s going to kill me … It was live or die at that point.”

He tried to take her beyond the door’s threshold, but what he did not know was that she used to box competitively, thanks to her first husband. She pushed him out the door and slammed it shut. He repeatedly banged on the door, and it felt as if he was shaking the brick home.

The house was shaking so badly, her mother came downstairs. There Miller was, covered in her blood, along with blood splashes on the door and the living area walls. She would later go to the Magistrate’s Office to press charges.

When the police arrived, she refused to take an ambulance, but now, feels this was a mistake since it seemed that law enforcement did not take her seriously. She didn’t want to take an ambulance because she didn’t want to scare her kids further.

Also, her insurance copay was high and she couldn’t afford the medical treatment being a single mother with a daughter with a progressive disability.

Since that incident, he has harassed Miller and infringed on different aspects of her life. Threatening her children’s schools. Calling her workplace. Messaging her friends on different platforms and relaying messages for her.

Harassing her best friend and her husband. Using other people’s phones to contact her. Sending her videos of him trying to hire someone to kill her, or him buying a gun, saying he was going to kill her. Videos of him walking around her neighborhood at night and scheming.

A STRUGGLE

The first Burke County magistrate that she met was on Dec. 27-28, 2023, to take out charges on Berryhill. That magistrate refused to take out charges or to file a restraining order. She said he told her it was a waste of his time and told her that there were no deputies available to serve the warrant.

She has no names since the magistrate, and others, did not introduce themselves nor have a name plaque.

She was instructed to go to the courthouse the following day to file the restraining order and charges, but there were no judges available the next day.

Miller said if the magistrate had been more responsible, “I might have saved myself and my family 11 months of torture.”

The big obstacle with her restraining order was serving Berryhill, who was on the run, but still harassing her online and through others. She has attended court every two weeks to keep her case active while she kept returning to meet with law enforcement, the clerk of court, the magistrates, and the DA.

Over those months, Miller said that she had been to Morganton Public Safety various times and showed the videos/threats she had so they would file a felony charge.

See related story on page 7A.

A turning point that led to Berryhill’s initial arrest was when Berryhill forced his way into her home, which was caught on camera on Oct. 19, 2024. The footage showed that he left his vehicle running and was chased off by Miller’s boyfriend, who had a gun.

Miller took this video and other evidence she had collected to the Magistrate’s Office, where a female magistrate was working that day. After going through the emails, the videos, and the complaints, Miller said the magistrate recognized the level of harassment and the danger she was in.

Soon after, in November, the U.S. Marshal Task Force swarmed his place of work in Buffalo, N.Y. Miller had given law enforcement research and evidence to help them find Berryhill.

After Berryhill was arrested by U.S. Marshals, he was extradited to Burke County in December. The DA told Miller that they would not offer him bond because he had to be hunted down and that he would stand before a judge.

The extradition took place around the weekend, so Berryhill was unable to see a judge during his 48-hour hold, so the Magistrate’s Office gave him a bond. Berryhill then fled the state.

Miller said that she and the DA wanted to be there for the bond hearing, but were unable. Although she understands that the magistrate was within their right to give him bond, she said she feels it wasted taxpayer money bringing him down and began the cycle all over again.

Furthermore, Miller explained that Burke has low bonds and she said she believed his bond should be revoked since he is currently wanted.

PRESENT DAY

For her, she said she feels she has received the “run-around” treatment with trying to press charges and arresting Berryhill. Berryhill, a felon, has about 40 misdemeanors filed against him by Miller, as well as a felony, and numerous warrants. She has a restraining order against him and has discovered other women also have restraining orders against him in other states.

Berryhill has sent Miller the address and photos of where her sister lives. He also swatted the home of her best friend, saying the house was filled with drugs, and she was going to kill herself.

In the past few weeks, Miller has been told by numerous people that Berryhill has said that he is going to kill her and her children, relaying graphic details. She has been spending more time out of town or not in her home, due to the fear of what might happen.

Berryhill has quit responding to his attorney’s calls as they are trying to arrange a plea deal with the DA. His social media and evidence shows he is in Miami, Fla.

Recently, Miller asked the DA to involve the U.S. Marshals again regarding the multiple open warrants, but was told it was not their jurisdiction. She was then directed to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, who explained that their office does not hold the warrants; it would be MPS that made those charges.

The sheriff’s office also explained that her detective (whom she did not know at the time) would need to upload the warrants into the NCIC system so other agencies can see them. She was never told a detective was assigned to her case.

“I didn’t understand why the detective had not taken the time to enter it into the NCIC database,” Miller said.

When she went to MPS, the person she spoke with didn’t know the name of her detective and gave her two incorrect names. She has never met these personnel. The officer who responded to the October 2024 incident had previously told her that they would be her contact.

She has since made contact with her detective, Lt. Edwards, who has told her that the U.S. Marshals have been involved in her case. She has given him addresses, names, a picture of a parking ticket, videos, and other pieces of evidence.

Burke County law enforcement has told her earlier that the new warrant system does not work well either. His previous warrants were sent to other states where he was, but the law enforcement agencies there did not serve them or did not know about them.

She is working with the DA to help hide her identity through a domestic violence victims program. She is also moving into a new home that she bought, so Berryhill won’t find her.