Lady pleads responsible in South Carolina DUI crash that killed bride on wedding ceremony night time, will get 25 years

A girl accused in a DUI crash that killed a bride on her wedding ceremony night time in South Carolina and injured three others, together with the groom, pleaded responsible to a number of fees Monday afternoon and was sentenced to 25 years in jail.

CBS affiliate WCSC-TV reviews that Jamie Lee Komoroski pleaded responsible to a cost of felony DUI leading to demise, two counts of DUI inflicting nice bodily harm or demise, and one rely of reckless murder. She was sentenced to 25 years for felony DUI leading to demise, 15 years for the 2 counts of DUI inflicting nice bodily harm or demise, and 10 years for reckless murder. The sentences will run concurrently.

On the night time of April 28, 2023, authorities mentioned Komoroski was behind the wheel of a rental automotive that rear-ended a golf cart carrying newlyweds Samantha Miller and Aric Hutchinson in Folly Seashore, a metropolis positioned on Folly Island southeast of Charleston. That they had been married simply hours earlier, and Miller was nonetheless in her wedding ceremony gown.

Miller died within the crash and Hutchinson suffered a mind harm and quite a few damaged bones. Two different members of the family driving within the golf cart have been additionally injured.

Authorities mentioned Komoroski was driving 65 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Komoroski informed the court docket Monday she was responsible, was not coerced into coming into the responsible pleas and was waiving a jury trial to which she could be entitled, WCSC reported.

In June, a decide accepted over $1.3 million in a partial settlement in a wrongful demise case after Hutchinson sued Komoroski, whose blood alcohol content material was “0.261, greater than 3 times the authorized restrict,” in keeping with a toxicology report launched by the South Carolina State Legislation Enforcement Division. Included within the wrongful demise lawsuit have been Enterprise, the automotive firm that rented her the car, and quite a few eating places and bars that served Komoroski on the night time of the accident. 

Police investigators mentioned in an affidavit that Komoroski had “an odor of alcohol coming from her breath and particular person.” When the investigator requested her if she had something to drink that night time, Komoroski answered, “Nope ooh I had two drinks, one beer and a drink.” Then she mentioned, “Like a tequila and pineapple.”

She mentioned she was driving house when “one thing hit her,” the incident report mentioned. Police famous she was driving in the wrong way of her house. 

Komoroski refused to take any subject sobriety checks and requested for a lawyer, the report mentioned. Police tried to place her in a police automotive and take her again to the station however she saved asking “why she was being arrested.”

She refused to offer breath samples on the police station, the report mentioned. Investigators obtained a warrant to attract two blood vials, which Folly Seashore police despatched to South Carolina Legislation Enforcement Division to check, the report mentioned. 

Weeks after the crash, Hutchinson informed “Good Morning America” that he did not bear in mind the crash that killed his spouse. However he mentioned he did recall his bride’s final phrases to him earlier than the crash.

“The very last thing I bear in mind her saying was she wished the night time to by no means finish,” he mentioned.

contributed to this report.