A woman accused of killing a newlywed bride from South Carolina is fearful of being sent to prison for a long time, according to court records.
Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, is alleged to have crashed her Toyota Camry into Samantha Miller and Aric Hutchinson’s golf cart minutes after they had left their Folly Beach wedding reception, instantly killing Samantha and seriously injuring her new husband.
While his wife – who was still in her wedding dress – died at the scene, Aric suffered bleeding to his brain, broken bones and facial fractures. Two other people in the golf cart survived, after Komoroski was said to have ploughed into their buggy, on April 28, after driving at 65mph in a 25mph zone.
Komoroski, who had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit, has been charged with three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide. According to local reports, the Coastal Carolina University graduate, who was working at a Mexican restaurant on Folly Beach, made several emotional calls from the Charleston County Jail.
READ MORE: Biden ‘optimistic’ on budget progress after meeting McCarthy
She reportedly said: “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. I want it to be over.”
One of the calls was to her father, who reportedly told her to “suck it up” and “get tough”.
According to detention logs upon her arrest, Komoroski became hysterical and threatened to harm herself, then banging her head on a nurse’s chair as she began to cry.
“I just pray and hope that the judge understands how regretful and remorseful I am, and that I’m not a bad person and that I’ll never do anything bad again,” said Komoroski, who called her crash a “freak accident”.
She even believes that she may get out of prison within months, telling friends: “There’s been people that have, like, killed people on purpose before and, like, they’ve gotten out on a bond.
“I didn’t mean it to happen. I just feel like a terrible person, like, I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.”
She also wants to apologise to the couple’s family, adding: “I just pray and hope that the judge understands how regretful and remorseful I am, and that I’m not a bad person and that I’ll never do anything bad again.”
In defending their client, Komoroski’s attorneys Nathan S. Williams and Christopher S. Gramiccioni said in a statement to Fox New Digital: “We cannot fathom what the families are going through and offer our deepest sympathies
“We simply ask that there not be a rush to judgment. Our court system is founded upon principles of justice and mercy, and that is where all facts will come to light.”
A GoFundMe for the couple titled “Sam and Aric” has raised nearly $730,000 since Samantha’s death.
