The family of a new bride killed in April 2023 by an impaired driver as she was leaving her wedding couldn’t hold back their tears Monday as the accused was reportedly sentenced to 25 years in prison.
“I think about that night every day and the last moments I spent with Sam on the golf cart. She told me she didn’t want the night to end. I kissed her on the forehead, and the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital,” Aric Hutchinson, 36, cried in court Monday, his voice breaking, according to ABC7.
At the opening of his trial Monday in South Carolina, Jamie Lee Komoroski reportedly chose to cut short the legal proceedings by pleading guilty to four counts, including reckless homicide as well as driving while intoxicated causing serious bodily injury , reported the American media.
The young woman was only 25 years old on the day in April 2023 when she chose to get behind the wheel despite her blood alcohol level of 0.261%, which exceeded more than three times the legal limit.
It was then that she hit the golf cart in which Aric Hutchinson, his new wife Samantha Miller, 34, and two other relatives were sitting, while she was traveling at nearly 105 km/h in a 40 km/h zone.
The death of the thirty-year-old, still in her white dress, was noted on the spot while her new husband was transported to hospital with serious injuries.
“I wish it was me instead of Sam… I wish I died that night, so she didn’t have to go alone,” he continued in tears in court , according to ABC7.
In court, the 36-year-old reopened the vows he had read in front of his life partner during the April 28 ceremony.
“I will love you today, tomorrow and until my last breath on this earth, and I am yours forever,” he read, before addressing the accused. That was hours before you killed her.”
In turn, the victim’s parents also spoke to denounce having been “condemned to a life of suffering” by the actions of the accused.
For her part, Jamie Lee Komoroski addressed the court to deplore “the worst decision she has made in her life, which affected the lives of so many people,” reported the American media.
“I take full responsibility for the tragic outcome of my decisions. I will carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life,” she declared before Judge Deadra L. Jefferson, according to ABC7.
The latter would thus have decided for a sentence of 25 years in prison, with credit for the time served while awaiting his trial.
