John Jefferson
Left: Aric Hutchinson and Samantha Miller, moments after getting married on April 28, 2023 (via GoFundMe). Center: Jamie Lee Komoroski awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty on Dec. 2, 2024 (Law&Crime). Right: Jamie Lee Komoroski (Charleston County (S.C.) Sheriff’s Office).
The woman who was driving drunk when she caused the South Carolina car crash that took the life of newlywed bride Samantha Miller on her wedding night in 2023 and injured the groom and several others, will spend the coming decades in prison.
Jamie Komoroski pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, felony DUI resulting in death, and reckless homicide resulting in death. She was behind the wheel of her car the night of April 28, 2023, speeding through the island community of Folly Beach, where Aric Hutchinson, who was 36 at the time, and Samantha Miller, 34, were celebrating their wedding. The newlyweds had left the reception in a golf cart driven by Hutchinson’s brother-in-law, Benjamin Garrett, and Garrett’s 17-year-old son Brogan Garrett. Komoroski, who was 25 years old at the time, is estimated to have been driving 65 mph in a 25 mph zone when she plowed into the golf cart with the Toyota Camry she was driving, killing Miller and seriously injuring Hutchinson and the two other passengers.
According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Komoroski had a BAC of .261, more than triple the legal limit. Police said that she refused a breath test test at the scene of the crash. She was charged with three counts of felony DUI and one count of reckless homicide resulting in death.
On Monday, Komoroski was sentenced to 10 years in the state department of corrections plus $5,000 for the charge of reckless homicide, 15 years plus $5,100 for the two charges of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury, and 25 years plus $10,100 for the charge of felony DUI resulting in death. The judge ruled the sentences should be served concurrently, with credit for time served.
She is expected to serve 25 years behind bars.
Komoroski’s plea was revealed shortly before trial was expected to start. Her defense attorney stated that this was meant to display her remorse for her actions and noted that “punishment was warranted.”
Lisa Miller, Samantha Miller’s mother, spoke after Komoroski entered her plea. She began by saying that she was a counselor who had worked with people who suffer from substance abuse, and the only way people can “get better is to suffer the natural consequences” for their actions. Miller went on to emotionally recount the final day of her daughter’s life, which was supposed to be one of her happiest.
Next to speak was Mandy Jenkins, the sister of Samantha Miller, who appeared angry and stated that her mother had once threatened to kill herself if anything happened to one of her children. After Samantha’s death, Mandy said she had to make her mother promise not to follow through. She also emphasized that several lives were altered by the fatal crash, stating that she and her husband quickly moved their lives from Florida to North Carolina to be closer to her mother.
Miller’s biological father, Bradley Warner, also spoke, recounting that he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident as a child, and many suspected a drunk driver.
“Every day I woke up, for 57 years,” he said, “and hated this person. Hated. Everyday, I’d wake up and hate somebody I didn’t even know.”
Six months before Samantha’s wedding, he told his daughter that he was going to forgive that driver. He said “a thousand-pound weight was taken off my shoulders. It felt like I could fly.”
“Six months later,” he continued through sobs, “that hatred is back on with vengeance. I’ve never felt this much weight.”
He later turned to Komoroski and addressed her directly.
“For the rest of my life, I’m going to hate you,” he said. “And when I arrive in Hell, and you come there, I’ll open the door for you.”
As more of the victims’ relatives spoke, Komoroski watched, listened, and cried.
Brogan Garrett, who was 17 years old when he was in the golf cart that was ripped apart by Komoroski, described the trauma that continues to haunt him, including while he drives. His father, Benjamin Garrett, was driving the golf cart — his “only job” at the wedding that night. He began by thanking the first responders who treated him and saved his life before recalling his ordeal of waking up in the ER and hearing Aric Hutchinson next to him “yelling in pain, just screaming.”
More from Law & Crime: Grieving groom sues alleged DUI driver and local bars over ‘unbelievably devastating’ death of bride killed while leaving wedding reception
When Aric Hutchinson spoke, he described the physical pain he was still in 19 months after the crash. But he also said he continued to think about the final moments he shared with his wife when she told him “she didn’t want the night to end.”
“I wish more than anything that it was me instead of Sam,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes. “I wish I’d died that night so she didn’t have to go alone.”
He turned to Komoroski and said, “I wish I saw you coming.” Recounting how devastating the collision was, Hutchinson said it was miraculous that all of them didn’t die that night, but added that his guilt over surviving instead of his wife haunted him every day.
He closed his statement by reading a quote from the wedding vows Samantha recited just hours before she was killed.
“‘I will love you today, tomorrow, and until I take my last breath on this Earth. I am forever yours,’” he recalled. “That was hours before you killed her.”
Komoroski’s family and allies spoke in her defense, making it clear that she had been remorseful since entering incarceration and painted her as an alcoholic in active, conscientious recovery, highlighting her participation in Alcoholics Anonymous.
Eventually, Komoroski opted to speak on her own behalf before sentencing.
“I made the choice to drink and drive,” she said, her voice wavering. “This is the worst decision I have ever made in my life.”
She turned to the families of Miller and Hutchinson “to say how truly and deeply sorry I am.” She acknowledged that no apology could undo the tragedy that occurred, but she said she would “live the rest of my life with immense regret for what happened that night.”
“I take full responsibility for the tragic outcome that my decisions have made,” she also said. “I will carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life.”
She closed her statement by apologizing again to the victims’ families, saying, “I take full responsibility for my actions. Hopefully one day you will be able to forgive me, but I know forgiveness must be earned. Regardless of whether that day ever comes, please know that I will always be devastated, deeply ashamed, and terribly sorry for what I have done.”
Multiple witnesses described Komoroski as “dazed and confused” at the scene of the collision, where she reportedly told police, “I was driving, and then all the sudden something hit me.” According to the incident report, a witness said Komoroski repeatedly said, “I want my boyfriend, I want to go home, what happened, and I did nothing wrong.”
After being booked into Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, Komoroski made a series of damning jailhouse calls during the month of May that the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office released to the press. They later called the release “erroneous” and issued a “clawback request,” claiming that the release of the calls could potentially “endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.”
In those calls, Komoroski made statements on the calls that painted her in a negative light.
“I can’t believe this is my life and my whole life is going to be over,” she said. Other statements included: “Oh my God. I just can’t believe this happened to me. Why me? I’m going to be here for years and years and years and years”; and “But I wanted to make sure that I could say an apology and they said I would be able to say an apology.”
She also called the crash a “freak accident obviously.”
Read the full article here