Driver who killed bride on her wedding day asked controversial question in jail call to her dad
A drunk driver who mowed down a bride on her wedding day has sparked outrage after complaining to her dad from county jail.
Jamie Lee Komoroski was behind the wheel when she struck a newlywed couple in Folly Beach, South Carolina, back in April 2023.
She fatally hit 34-year-old Samantha Hutchinson just hours after tying the knot with husband, Aric - who suffered a bleed on the brain, as well as two broken legs and a facial injury.
In a recently released jailhouse video from May 2023, the driver was seen crying about her circumstances.
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She could be heard whining to her father about being locked away for 'so long' after the fatal crash.
"I still just don’t know why this had to happen to me," the 25-year-old complained to her dad.
During the recording, her father Charles was seen calmly puffing on a cigar while listening to her vent.
"Because bad things happen to good people, honey," he replied, completely sidestepping the actual reason she was arrested.
He continued to comfort her through the screen while ignoring the tragedy that put her there.
"It’s just something that happened to you, and we are going to deal with it as best as we can, okay?" he added.
Despite killing Samantha - who was riding in a golf cart with her husband when Komoroski's Toyota rental car ploughed into the back of them while she was doing 65mph in a 25mph zone - Komoroski continued to position herself as the victim.
"I just can’t believe this happened to me. Why me, Dad, why me?" she questioned through tears.
As the conversation unfolded, she then began whining about the press coverage.
"That’s just, like, makes me scared that the media is so involved in it," she told her dad, before adding: "Why are they so involved in it?"
Charles suggested to his daughter that her devastating story simply 'sold newspapers' across the country.
Komoroski replied: "But that’s not going to help me like, Oh my God. It’s going to be so bad when I get out. Everybody’s going to be so mean to me."
Charles then told her to toughen up, to which she responded: "I’m just scared, dad,” she cried. "I don’t want to go away for so, so long."
"Well, listen, we’re doing everything we can," her dad reassured her.
At the time of Komoroski's arrest her blood alcohol level was over three times the legal limit.
She received a 25-year sentence for felony DUI resulting in death, plus a 10-year penalty for reckless homicide.
She was also handed a 15-year sentence for two separate charges of DUI causing great bodily injury.
However, since a judge ordered all of these sentences to be served concurrently, she will spend a total of 25 years behind bars.
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.
Aric and Samantha Hutchinson (GoFundMe)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: South Carolina, US News, Crime
Joe Yates