Mom of bride Sam Hutchinson killed on wedding day reveals daughter’s sweet surprise
The grieving mom of the bride killed by an alleged drunk driver on her wedding day said her daughter surprised her with a mother-daughter dance to “our song” during the celebration — which she wished could “go on forever.”
Lisa Miller recounted the heartbreaking details of her daughter Samantha “Sam” Hutchinson’s fairytale day, before the 34-year-old newlywed was killed and her husband, Aric Hutchinson, was severely injured when they were rear-ended shortly after their reception Friday night.
The devastated parent told WCIV that the couple “announced a surprise dance for the most important person in Sam’s life — which was me — and we danced to Bruno Mars, ‘Just the Way You Are.’ That’s our song.”
Miller added: “On the beginning of the golf cart ride, she said I wished this night could go on forever. The best night of her life.”
Hutchinson’s sister, Mandi Jenkins, recalled getting ready with her excited sibling that day.
“It was the best day of her life,” she told the outlet.
“I’ve never seen the light in her eyes shine as bright as that day, from the moment that day started, getting ready for her wedding at the house.”
The mother and sister also recounted the harrowing moments after Hutchinson was killed.
“We were in our pajamas sitting on the balcony beside Bert’s at our place where we’re staying and started to hear the sirens,” Jenkins told WCIV, referring to a market in Folly Beach.
“And the sirens kept going,” she said.
Everything you need to know about <strong>Jamie Lee Komoroski</strong>
What will happen to her?
Komoroski was charged with three felony DUIs resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide after killing a bride and injuring a groom who had just left their wedding reception. She is facing up to 25 years in jail.
Komoroski, 25, plowed into Samantha Hutchinson’s golf cart, which had four people on it, while driving around 65 miles per hour, according to Folly Beach police.
Sam Hutchinson was declared dead at the scene by responding officers. Her new husband, Aric Hutchinson, was hospitalized with severe injuries.
Police said Komoroski’s blood-alcohol content was three times over the legal limit.
Komoroski reportedly smelled of alcohol but refused to take a sobriety test, according to police.
Aric filed a wrongful death suit against the alleged drunk driver and the bars that he says served her before the horrific incident.
Komoroski has been let out of jail and is under house arrest after being granted bail with strict conditions on Friday, as revealed by The Post.
A judge said she should be granted bail if Charleston County couldn’t bring the case to trial before March 1.
The family texted Sam but got no response, so they rushed to where the emergency vehicles were headed.
“We just got out of the truck and just running, screaming, ‘Sam! Sam!’” Miller said.
“Caution tape, so many lights, it was dark but there were so many lights,” Jenkins said about the chaotic scene, where they made the shattering discovery.
Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, the driver of the rental car that plowed into the cart, is charged with three counts of driving under the influence causing death and reckless vehicular homicide.
Authorities said she was driving at 65 mph and only hit the brakes right before the collision.
“I don’t know what the distraction was, but she literally ran into my daughter going 65 miles an hour. Sammie and Aric were on the back of the golf cart and so she basically just whammed my child,” Miller told the news outlet.
The family now wants to raise awareness of the dangers of drunken driving.
“That person made a careless mistake. And it’s not a mistake. It is a life-changing event,” Jenkins said. “I never thought it would happen to us and to my beautiful sister, your beautiful daughter and all the 150 people that were there.”
A warrant was issued for a blood test and its results are pending.
Aric remains hospitalized with a brain injury and multiple broken bones, his mother has said.
Two of his relatives who also were on the cart, Ben Garret and Brogan Garret, also were injured.
Komoroski, who told cops she downed a shot of tequila and one beer about an hour before the wreck, refused to take a field sobriety test after the crash, according to police documents.
