Devastation Strikes Moments After Wedding Ceremonies Are Complete: Bride Killed and Husband Rushed to Hospital
Samantha Hutchinson died in her wedding dress Friday after the golf cart in which she and her new husband were riding was struck by a car.
She and her husband of a few hours, Aric Hutchinson, were leaving their wedding reception in Folly Beach, South Carolina, about 10 p.m. when a vehicle struck the golf cart from behind, according to WYFF-TV in Greenville.
The crash killed the bride and critically injured the groom.
Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, has been charged with three counts of DUI involving great bodily injury or death and reckless homicide.
“Her blood draw results are pending. An investigation into the crash determined she was going 65 mph at the time she struck the cart,” police said.
Komoroski was not injured.
Aric Hutchinson and his brother suffered critical injuries and were hospitalized, according to WCBD-TV in Charleston.
Mandi Jenkins, the sister of the bride, said the couple were heading back to their Airbnb with her sister still in her wedding dress. They had been married Friday evening.
“I’ve never seen my sister look so beautiful. And so happy,” Jenkins said.
“My sister, a daughter, a wife, died in her wedding dress because someone made a terrible decision to get in the car,” she said.
Jenkins said family members heard the sirens and responded.
“It was so dark, but it was so light because of all of the police. I can’t take it out of my brain. And my mom and I ran holding hands. No shoes, no bra, no nothing, just screaming ‘Sammy!’” Jenkins recalled.
On a GoFundMe page set up for medical expenses, Annette Hutchinson, the mother of Aric Hutchinson, wrote, “I was handed Aric’s wedding ring in a plastic bag at the hospital, five hours after Sam placed it on his finger and they read each other their vows. Aric has lost the love of his life.”
She said her son suffered a brain injury. He has undergone one reconstruction surgery with one more to go and suffered multiple broken bones.
The groom’s mother said that in the crash, “they were struck from behind by a drunk driver traveling 65 MPH in a 25 MPH zone. The golf cart was thrown over 100 yards and rolled several times.”
As of Tuesday morning, the GoFundMe, which had a goal of $100,000 had raised more than $415,000.
According to WCBD, Komoroski told police that on a one-to-10 scale, she rated her impairment at the time of the crash as an eight.
UPDATE: The FBPD confirmed the driver who collided with the golf cart is Jamie Lee Komoroski, who is charged with three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily harm / death and one count of reckless homicide.https://t.co/avA8eCGUPJ
— ABC News 4 (@ABCNews4) April 29, 2023
Police asked her to undergo a sobriety test but “she strongly refused and became uncooperative,” the police report said.
Komoroski has a history of charges related to speeding, police said.
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
