Drunk driver who killed bride on wedding night made chilling comment to dad from prison
Haunting new footage from Jamie Komoroski's jail cell has captured the moment she and her father showed no real concern about the horrific consequences of her drunk driving incident.
The 27-year-old was heavily intoxicated when she smashed her car into a golf buggy transporting newly married couple Samantha and Aric Hutchinson after their wedding at Folly Beach, South Carolina, in April 2023.
After footage recently revealed the disturbing question that she asked police officers, further video content has now revealed the extent of a conversation with her father that she had from her prison cell.
Despite going 40mph over the speed limit and having dangerously high blood alcohol levels, neither Komoroski or her father seemed to want to take responsibility in their phone call.
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Starting to shake in the video call from prison, she said: “I don’t wanna go to prison for 15 years, I just want to get out of here."
She continued to complain and chillingly questioned why 'this had to happen to me', despite the fatal consequences of her actions, which also robbed a man of the woman he was planning to spend the rest of his life with.
Unfortunately, it's easy to see why she might have that attitude, as her father responded: “Because bad things happen to good people, honey. It’s just fate…and we are going to deal with it the best we can.”
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I going to be here for years and years,” Komoroski said.
One of the only concerns that Komoroski shows during the call, apart from herself, is for her cat, as she cried after realising that she would have to say goodbye to her pet.
However, she eventually claims that the 'accident is all my fault'.
She would also accept responsibility and plead guilty during court proceedings in 2024, admitting that she had made a grave mistake and she was sorry for causing the death of Samantha.
Aric suggested that while he believed that she was genuinely sorry for her actions, that wouldn't bring his wife back, who had died just hours after telling him she hoped her wedding night would last forever.
Komoroski was eventually sentenced to 25 years for felony DUI resulting in death and reportedly has no possibility of parole, meaning she is unlikely to be released before April 2045.
A timeline of Samantha Miller's death and the investigation into Jamie Lee Komoroski
28 April 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.
30 April 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’.
17 May 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.
19 May 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.
12 September 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.
2 December 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 fibre 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
10 December 2025
A final settlement is reached in the civil lawsuit. Komoroski’s insurance provider pays $160,000; the other bars pay $863,000.
24 April 2045
The date Komoroski is expected to be released.
Topics: True Crime
James Moorhouse