Driver who killed bride on her wedding day hit back at cops after being asked to rate how drunk she was
Bodycam footage shows the moment Jamie Lee Komoroski pushed back when police asked her to rate how intoxicated she was, shortly after she crashed into a golf cart carrying newlyweds on their wedding night.
Komoroski was arrested following the crash in Folly Beach, South Carolina, when Samantha Miller, 34, and her new husband, Aric Hutchinson, were leaving their wedding reception in a golf cart decorated with a 'Just Married' sign on April 28, 2023.
Komoroski was driving a rental car when she struck the cart carrying the newlyweds, and Miller died at the scene while still wearing her wedding dress.
Now, the newly released bodycam footage filmed following the incident shows Komoroski being asked by an officer to rate her level of intoxication from one to 10, with 10 representing the most impaired she had ever been.
Rather than answering the question, Komoroski hit back: "I would like a lawyer."
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Komoroski was also questioned at the Folly Beach Police Department, where officers begin carrying out sobriety checks.
An officer asked whether he could check her eyes, but Komoroski initially said, 'No thanks'.
She then appeared to agree before being asked to stand up.
"How do you feel?" the officer asked. 'Good', Komoroski replied. Officers then instructed her to put her hands behind her back. "Why?" she asked.
"Because you're under arrest for suspicion of DUI," the officer told her.
Earlier in the footage, Komoroski asked whether everyone was OK and said, 'All of a sudden something hit me.'
She also told police she had consumed a beer 'and a drink' within the previous hour.
A toxicology report later found Komoroski's blood alcohol concentration was 0.261%, more than three times South Carolina's legal limit.
What happened in the Jamie Lee Komoroski crash?
Police said Komoroski was travelling at about 65mph in a 25mph zone when she crashed into the newlyweds.
As well as losing his wife, Hutchinson suffered a severe brain injury and multiple broken bones, while two other people in the golf cart were left with life changing injuries.
The footage captures Komoroski's behavior in the immediate aftermath of the collision, as officers attempted to determine what had happened and whether she was impaired.
In addition to the questions captured in the arrest footage, other portions of the released bodycam video show Komoroski repeatedly asking to speak to her father and shifting between distress and casual conversation while in police custody.
She discussed subjects including food, allergies and her new kitten, despite the fatal crash that had just occurred.
Earlier footage from the scene showed Komoroski appearing distressed and asking officers and bystanders about the condition of the woman who had been struck.
Komoroski later pleaded guilty to felony DUI resulting in death, two counts of felony DUI causing great bodily injury and reckless homicide.
In December 2024, she was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with the sentences running concurrently.
At sentencing, Komoroski acknowledged that she had made the decision to drink and drive and expressed remorse for Miller's death and the injuries suffered by Hutchinson and the other victims.
A timeline of Samantha Miller's death and the investigation into Jamie Lee Komoroski
April 28 2023
Samantha Miller, 34, and Aric Hutchinson, 36, are married at Folly Beach.
From around 7.50pm, Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, visits several bars in the local area.
At around 10pm, Komoroski, driving a rented Toyota Camry, rear-ends a golf cart in which Miller, Hutchinson and two other people are travelling.
Komoroski was driving at 65mph on a 25mph road and was three times over the legal blood alcohol limit in South Carolina.
Miller dies at the scene, wearing her wedding dress. Komoroski is arrested. Hutchinson breaks both his legs, parts of his face and his back and suffers a brain bleed.
April 30 2023
In a phone call between Komoroski and her father later shared by the Post and Courier, she tells her dad: “I can’t believe this is my life … and my whole life is going to be over. 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.”
Her dad tells her to ‘suck it up' and ‘get tough’.
May 17 2023
Hutchinson files a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Komoroski and several bars that served her alcohol on the night of his wife’s death.
He accuses Komoroski of having a ‘booze-filled day of bar hopping’, and says the bar should have ‘exercised due care’ when serving her.
May 19 2023
Hutchinson gives his first interview following the crash to Good Morning America.
He says: “The last thing I remember [Samantha] saying was she wanted the night to never end.”
The next thing he remembers is waking up in hospital asking where his wife is and being told by his mother she didn’t make it.
August 2023
More phone calls from jail between Komoroski and her dad are leaked.
Inside Edition reports she tells her father: “I’m just scared, dad. I don’t want to go away for so, so long. I don’t want to go to prison for 15 years.
“I don’t think I’m a threat to society at all and I’m not.
“I still just don’t know why this had to happen to me.”
Her dad responds: “Because bad things happen to good people, honey.”
September 12 2023
A grand jury indicts Komoroski. She is charged with felony DUI resulting in death, two counts of felony DUI with great bodily injury and reckless homicide.
June 2024
Several of the bars in the civil lawsuit reach a $1.3 million settlement with Hutchinson.
December 2 2024
Komoroski pleads guilty to all four charges. She is sentenced to 25 years for felony DUI resulting in death, 10 years for reckless homicide, and 15 years for the two DUI with great bodily injury charges. The sentences run concurrently, so Komoroski faces a total of 25 years in prison.
Komoroski tells the court through tears: “I want the last thing that I say to be that, from the very bottom of my heart, with every fiber in my being, how sorry I am. I take full responsibility for my actions.
"Hopefully one day you will be able to forgive me, but I know forgiveness must be earned."
After the sentencing, Hutchinson tells journalists: “I feel like the punishment fit the crime. I do think she’s sorry. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Sam’s not here.”
Records indicate that Komoroski is not eligible for parole. She remains at the Camille Griffin Graham Correctional Center in Columbia
December 10 2025
A final settlement is reached in the civil lawsuit. Komoroski’s insurance provider pays $160,000; the other bars pay $863,000.
April 24 2045
The date Komoroski is expected to be released.
Topics: Jamie Lee Komoroski, True crime, South Carolina
Thomas Bamford