A bride who was killed by a drink-driver on the day of her wedding had, just moments before the fatal crash, told her new husband that she “didn’t want the night to end”.
Samantha Miller, 34, died still wearing her wedding dress, while groom Aric Hutchinson suffered a brain injury and numerous broken bones when Jamie Lee Komoroski smashed into the golf cart the couple had been riding in after their beach ceremony.
Komoroski, 27, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the 2023 crash in South Carolina.
Charleston County Courthouse heard how Komoroski had been drinking at several bars and was more than three times the legal limit.
She was also said to be driving at 65mph on the 25mph narrow Folly Beach road.
Mr Hutchinson cried in court as he recalled the last moments he spent with his wife.
He said: “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.”
Komoroski pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, felony DUI causing death and two counts of felony DUI causing great bodily injury.
She promised to spend the rest of her life helping addicts and warning of the dangers of drinking and driving.
Komoroski said she was “devastated, deeply ashamed and sorry” for what she did, adding: “I wish I could go back and undo this terrible tragedy. But I cannot.
“I will live the rest of my life with intense regret for what happened that night.”
She said all her work will be dedicated to Ms Miller’s memory.
She said: “I pray God stands by the side of my victims and their families and loved ones for the rest of their lives.”
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A number of family and friends of both Ms Miller and Komoroski spoke at the hearing, which lasted nearly three hours.
Komoroski’s supporters asked the judge to be lenient due to her young age and ability to still do good.
Ms Miller’s family. Pic: AP
Many of Miller’s family asked for a harsh sentence, saying the decisions Komoroski made that night were selfish and permanently scarred many lives.
Mr Hutchinson spoke of attending doctors and therapists due to his physical injuries and mental anguish.
He said: “I wish I had died that night. I wish I had seen it coming. I’d have jumped off the golf cart so you would only have run me over.”
Mr Hutchinson won $863,000 (£680,000) in legal settlements from three bars that served Komoroski as well as her insurance firm and the company she rented her car from.
Before the sentencing, Ms Miller’s father told Komoroski she could apologise, but he wouldn’t listen to a word.
“The rest of my life I’m going to hate you and when I arrive in hell and you come there, I will open the door for you,” Brad Warner said.
“You have ruined so many people’s lives.”