New bride killed after suspected drunk driver hits golf cart hours after South Carolina wedding
FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCBD) - A bride was killed and a groom left critically injured just hours after exchanging their vows on South Carolina's Folly Beach last Friday evening.
The couple had left their wedding reception when Folly Beach Public Safety Chief Andrew Gilreath said 25-year-old Jamie Komoroski slammed into the back of a golf cart they were riding in.
Komoroski was allegedly traveling at about 65 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to Chief Gilreath.
Charleston County Coroner Bobbi Jo O’Neal identified the victim as 34-year-old Samantha Miller of Charlotte, North Carolina. Miller, still in her wedding dress, suffered blunt force trauma in the crash and died at the scene.
Miller's husband, Aric Hutchinson of Utah, and another family member on the golf cart were seriously injured and remain in the hospital, Hutchinson's mother wrote in a GoFundMe.
Hutchinson has already undergone multiple surgeries, according to his family. The Utah man is expected to be OK but has a long road to recovery. The other two passengers are also recovering.
Miller’s sister, Mandi Jenkins, said the new couple was on the way back to their Airbnb when they were fatally struck.
“I’ve never seen my sister look so beautiful. And so happy,” Jenkins told Nexstar's WCBD while fighting back tears. "My sister, a daughter, a wife, died in her wedding dress because someone made a terrible decision to get in the car."
Family members were nearby when they heard the sirens. Jenkins said her mother knew right away.
“It was so dark, but it was so light because of all of the police. I can’t take it out of my brain. And my mom and I ran holding hands. No shoes, no bra, no nothing, just screaming ‘Sammy!’” Jenkins recalled.
Responding officers described seeing “a large crash scene with a golf cart on its side” and several victims among the wreckage. At the center was Komoroski, who, according to affidavits, smelled of alcohol.
Officers said Komoroski was unsteady on her feet and had trouble standing. They asked her to rate her impairment on a scale of one to 10, to which she replied an eight, police said. Officers then asked her to perform a field sobriety test, at which point “she strongly refused and became uncooperative,” documents revealed.
Komoroski was taken into custody and a warrant was obtained for a blood test. Those results have not yet been disclosed.
She was taken to the Charleston County Detention Center where she faces multiple charges including three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury and/or death.
Komoroski has a history of speeding-related charges, according to court records.