A man who lost his bride on their wedding day to a drunk driver has spoken out in court.
Aric Hutchinson wed the love of his life Samantha Miller on 28 April, 2023, at a venue in Folly Beach, South Carolina.
Just moments after they left the venue in a golf cart they were hit by a car driven by Jamie Lee Koromoski, who had been exceeding the speed limit and was intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Aric suffered serious injuries in the crash and Samantha was killed, while family members Benjamin and Brogan Garrett who had also been in the buggy also suffered injuries.
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Koromoski was arrested and charged with reckless vehicular homicide, felony DUI causing death and two counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury.
She issued a guilty plea to charges arrayed against her, and has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Speaking in court, Aric Hutchinson recalled the final moments his wife had as they had set off for what they thought would be the rest of their lives together.
He said: "I think about that night every single day, and the last moments I had with Sam on the golf cart.
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"She told me she didn't want the night to end, I kissed her on the forehead and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital.
"I see my mom's face, still wearing the wedding dress from the night before, and I knew instantly. So I asked for Sam, I knew she wasn't there."
A tearful Hutchinson said he wished he'd seen Koromoski's car coming, saying he'd have 'jumped off the golf cart so you'd have only run me over'.
"We did not get hit, we got ran through at 65 miles per hour, there's no way the three of us should be alive, all four of us should have died that night," the groom said in the courtroom.
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"You took the greatest human being I've ever met, she's not coming back, she's gone. She was my world."
Koromoski was sentenced to 25 years in prison for causing Samantha's death, along with 15 years for the serious injuries caused to Hutchinson and 10 years for reckless homicide.
The sentences will run concurrently, and Koromoski told the court she was 'devastated, deeply ashamed and sorry', and that she now realises she was addicted to alcohol and at the time did not care how her actions affected others.
She said: "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."
Joe Harker