Newly released bodycam video depicts Jamie Lee Komoroski, who is serving a 25-year sentence for a fatal DUI crash, sobbing and asking for her father following the collision that killed a bride. The footage captures Komoroski's demeanor shortly after she drunkenly crashed her vehicle into a golf cart carrying newlyweds Samantha Miller, 34, and Aric Hutchinson, 36, on Folly Island, South Carolina, in April 2023.
As officers arrived on the scene, Komoroski, then 25, was heard asking if the bride was okay. "Is she okay," Komoroski wailed, pointing towards the wreck. "Make sure she's okay." Approximately 30 minutes later, bodycam footage showed an officer questioning Komoroski about her alcohol consumption. She initially denied drinking but then stated she had two drinks, a beer and an alcoholic beverage. When pressed, she identified the second drink as a "tequila pineapple."
When asked to rate her level of intoxication on a scale of 1 to 10, Komoroski responded, "I would like a lawyer, honestly." The video later shows her repeatedly asking why she was being handcuffed, despite officers informing her she was being arrested on suspicion of DUI. As she was placed in a patrol car, she began crying again. Later, at the police station, Komoroski refused a breathalyzer test and repeatedly asked to call her father, stating, "I would like the right to call my father right now... Can I please call him? I just want to get it over with and go home... can I just call?"
Blood tests later revealed Komoroski's blood alcohol content to be 0.261 percent, more than three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent in South Carolina. She also stated, "prove it, prove it, prove it" when informed of the reason for her detention.
Komoroski was sentenced to 25 years in prison after admitting to reckless homicide in Miller's death. During her sentencing hearing, she told the court, "On the night of April 22, 2023, I chose to drink and drive which resulted in the death of Samantha Miller. This is the worst decision I have ever made in my life. Due to my poor decisions a beautiful wife, sister and mother was taken... all I can say is how incredibly remorseful I am."
In the hours before the crash, Komoroski had been drinking at multiple bars before driving. Surveillance footage showed the golf cart carrying the newlyweds and two family members leaving a reception pavilion. Two minutes later, Komoroski's car was seen speeding by. She was driving at 65 mph at the time of the collision.
Miller, who was still in her wedding dress, died at the scene. Hutchinson sustained two broken legs, facial fractures, and a traumatic brain injury. During the sentencing, Hutchinson stated, "She said she didn't want the night to end, I kissed her on the head, the next thing I knew I woke up in hospital. I wish I had died that night. I wish I had seen it coming. I'd have jumped off the golf cart so that you'd only have run me over. We did not get hit, we got ran through at 65mph."
Komoroski was initially held without bond before being released on a $150,000 bond in March 2024. Images later showed Komoroski living in Charleston.
