Samantha Miller case: Accused Jamie Komoroski gets bail as trial yet to start in DUI crash death of bride
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
FOLLY BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA: Samantha Miller's happiness ended in tragedy when she lost her life on her wedding night.
The 34-year-old was killed on her wedding day on April 28, 2023 with Aric Hutchinson, per Post and Courier, when intoxicated driver Jamie Komoroski crashed into the wedding party on East Ashley Avenue.
Folly Beach police reported that Komoroski briefly tapped her brakes before rear-ending the golf cart she was driving at 65 mph on a 25 mph road. The crash resulted in the death of the newlywed bride, who was still in her white wedding dress.
A year after the tragedy, the accused has been given bail as prosecutors have failed to even start the trial.
What happened at the crime scene?
Police arrived on the scene and discovered Miller unconscious; Hutchinson and his brother-in-law Benjamin Garrett were found semiconscious.
Hutchinson broke several bones and sustained a brain injury. Garrett suffered extensive road rash, open wounds, and neck and back injuries. His 17-year-old son, Brogan, escaped without serious injuries.
Komoroski totaled her black Toyota Camry but emerged unharmed. When police encountered Komoroski, they detected the smell of alcohol on her breath.
They observed her unsteady gait, and noted that she required assistance to stand. She admitted to consuming a beer and a tequila drink approximately an hour before.
She faced charges of three counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury and one count of reckless homicide.
Samantha Miller's husband sued several bars
On May 4, 2023, Hutchinson left the hospital, with doctors saying it would take him up to 12 weeks to walk again.
Meanwhile, Komoroski's father hired top lawyers for her case. On May 5, 2023, attorneys Christopher Gramiccioni and Nathan Williams told the court they were representing Komoroski and asked for more information about the case.
On May 10, 2023, Hutchinson became the personal representative of his late wife's estate.
On May 11, 2023, Komoroski's blood test showed her blood-alcohol level was over three times the legal limit.
On May 17, 2023, Hutchinson sued several bars on Folly Beach, saying they gave too much alcohol to the woman who killed his wife.
The bars named in the lawsuit were The Drop-In, the Crab Shack, Snapper Jacks, Taco Boy on Folly, and El Gallo Bar & Grill on Daniel Island.
Taco Boy said Komoroski was only working there that night and didn't drink there. El Gallo showed a receipt proving Komoroski only ate lunch there and didn't drink alcohol.
The lawsuit said the bars didn't take care of the public or their customers when they gave Komoroski alcohol, letting her drive home "while drunk." Laws in South Carolina say bars can't give alcohol to people who are drunk.
Lisa Miller fights with Samantha’s husband
Amid the Komoroski case, Samantha's mother Lisa Miller doubted Aric Hutchinson's capability to manage her daughter's estate.
She asked for a special administrator appointed by the court to take over from Hutchinson as the personal representative of Miller's estate.
Miller said that taking legal action was her last option and it was a painful decision.
She said, "Aric and I agreed several times that Sam would want us to do everything together. And yet we’ve been roadblocked by all of his attorneys, and it’s never been solidified."
Where is Jamie Komoroski now?
After Komoroski's jail recordings were made public on May 19, 2023, her lawyers said she wasn't a danger to others or likely to run away, which are the two things considered when deciding bail.
They said if she got out of jail, she would get treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues, which she's had since college.
She graduated from Coastal Carolina University in 2020. On August 1, 2023, Michael Nettles, a visiting judge from Florence, said no to Komoroski's bail request.
He thought she might run away, but he gave prosecutors until March 2024 to take her to trial.
If they didn't, she could leave jail by paying a $150,000 bond and staying in Charleston County with an ankle monitor and being watched at home.
With so many cases in Charleston's courts, it seemed unlikely they'd meet the deadline.
While there was a lawsuit going on between the bar and Samantha's husband, on March 1, 2024, Komoroski got out of jail because prosecutors hadn't taken her to trial within a year of the wedding party crash where Miller died.
She's at home in Charleston County but can only go out for medical emergencies. She has to wear a device that checks if she's been drinking through her sweat.
She can't drive. It's not clear when her trial will happen.
