CHARLESTON COUNTY, S.C. (Court TV) — A judge sentenced a woman to decades in prison after she pleaded guilty to driving drunk and slamming into a golf cart, killing a bride on her wedding night and seriously injuring the groom.
Jamie Lee Komoroski pleaded guilty to all charges, including reckless vehicular homicide charge and multiple counts of felony DUI with bodily injury and death for the April 28, 2023, tragedy in Folly Beach, South Carolina. Immediately following her plea, prosecutors summarized the facts in her case, victim impact statements were heard, and a South Carolina judge handed down a 50-year sentence to run concurrently with roughly 580 days credit for time served.
(L) Aric Hutchinson and Samantha Miller, (R) Jamie Lee Komoroski (Lawsuit/Charleston County Sheriff’s Office)
Investigators said that Komoroski was driving 65 in a 25 mph zone with a blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit when she plowed into the newlyweds moments after their wedding reception.
Bride Samantha Miller, 34, was killed in the crash. Three others who were in the golf cart, including groom Aric Hutchinson, were injured.
During victim impact statements, one by one, many of Miller’s family and friends addressed the court, reliving what started out as a joyous celebration that ended in a living nightmare. Miller’s mother, Lisa Miller, described hearing sirens and yelling, “Something happened to Sam.”
Other survivors of the crash, including Benjamin and Brogan Garrett, spoke about the pain and suffering they experienced that night, the chaos at the ER following the crash, and the neverending mental and emotional trauma they still suffer.
The last victim impact statement was from Aric Hutchinson, the newlywed husband of the deceased victim. “On the golf cart…she told me she didn’t want the night to end…and I kissed her on the forehead…and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital,” Hutchinson said.
Komoroski had been released on bond in March, seven months after Judge Michael Nettles initially denied bond and informed the parties that Komoroski would be released if the case wasn’t heard by March 2024. According to jail records, Komoroski was released on a $150,000 surety bond, along with orders for a GPS and Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM) device. A SCRAM bracelet can detect alcohol in a person’s system through sweat.
Following the Dec. 2 sentencing, Komoroski was taken into custody by the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
Earlier this year, Hutchinson and the other survivors of the crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit that accused Komoroski of setting off “on a booze-filled day of bar hopping” that culminated with her BAC being 0.261 when it was tested after the crash. A judge approved a partial settlement in the lawsuit, awarding $1 million from several businesses.
