“I want this day to last forever”: the bride’s last words to her husband before she got drunk
A bride told her husband she wanted their wedding day to “last forever” right before she was killed when a drunk driver crashed into their golf cart.
Samantha and Eric Hutchinson were ferrying from the wedding venue to their Airbnb in Folly Beach, South Carolina, when Jamie Lee Komoroski plowed into them.
The mutilated buggy rolled several times as it was thrown 100 yards by Komoroski’s Toyota Camry. The 25-year-old was reportedly driving 65 mph in a 25 mph zone and her blood alcohol level was 0.261 — more than three times the limit.
Samantha died from her catastrophic injuries, while Aric has been left in a wheelchair after two broken legs, multiple facial fractures and concussion.
The 34-year-old’s devastated family revealed her heartbreaking final words on Tuesday, two weeks after the tragedy. So told her sister Mandi Jenkins The Today Show“She looked at him on the golf cart and said, ‘I want this day to last forever.'”
Samantha and Eric Hutchinson are surrounded by relatives on April 28 in Folly Beach, South Carolina
A new image from a police report shows the mangled golf cart after Komoroski allegedly plowed into it at 105 mph
Samantha’s mother Lisa Miller and sister Mandi Jenkins told The Today Show on Tuesday about her heartbreaking last words before she was killed
Her mother Lisa Miller remembered watching her daughter that day.
“My first thought was that Sam finally has the love she always wanted,” Miller said.
But then disaster struck just hours after the couple exchanged vows.
Miller knew her daughter was in trouble as soon as she heard the sirens.
“Something happened to Sam, I literally screamed it,” she said.
A wheelchair-bound Aric attended a memorial for Samantha on Saturday at the beach where the couple married on April 28.
‘She would have loved it. This is Sam, she’s a beach girl through and through,’ the widower said.
“We walk here almost every morning, and this is definitely her farewell. She sure is smiling up there.”
Aric continued, “I feel pretty good. My body returns to where I can handle it.
“It’s kind of overwhelming, they’re genuine, sincere, kind-hearted people who just reached out and felt a reason to do so, or somehow they were touched by Sam.
‘It just means the world. She left that impression.’
Crowds of people gathered to pay their respects to Aric on the beach as surfers paddled and threw flowers with her name on the stem into the ocean.
Jamie Komoroski, 25, has been charged with three counts of DUI resulting in grievous bodily harm or death and one count of reckless manslaughter
Newlyweds Miller and Hutchinson were pictured beaming as they celebrated their nuptials at Folly Beach on April 28
Aric and Samantha kiss on their wedding day
Aric Hutchinson attended the memorial service for his late wife Samantha Miller at Folly Beach on Saturday
A local told WYFF4 said, “It’s a real tragedy for Folly Beach, and we’re all grieving with the family.”
Driving a rented Toyota Camry, Komoroski was traveling at 105 km/h in a 40 km/h zone, along a dimly lit residential street when the fatal accident occurred.
She reportedly told responding officers in the aftermath of the crash, “Suddenly something hit me. I didn’t do anything wrong.’
Komoroski allegedly admitted to having two drinks an hour before the smash: a beer and a tequila pineapple cocktail. However, her blood alcohol level indicates that she had nearly ten drinks.
Pictured: Aric with a bandaged leg over the weekend with family and friends as they celebrate the life of his late wife
Aric Hutchinson at the memorial for his wife, Sam, at Folly Beach in South Carolina on Saturday
People gathered on Folly Beach for Samantha Miller’s memorial on Saturday, with flowers with Sam’s name on them before paddling out into the ocean
Several of those who celebrated to collect her life also had a memorial surfer paddling on the beach and throwing red flowers into the ocean
Aric had to undergo reconstructive surgery before finally being released earlier this week
Pictured: Hutchinson (right) touches knuckles with his cousin Ben Garrett (left) who was also involved in the incident, and left a skin graft and was unable to put weight on his legs
Ben also had to undergo plastic surgery after severe road rashes and open wounds on his face
The slow-moving vehicle that Samantha and Aric rode in. The broken seat and shattered wheel axles give an idea of the force of the fatal blow
Pictured: The newlyweds on Folly Beach just over two weeks ago
The Charleston County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Miller died at the scene of blunt force injuries sustained in the crash. The couple is pictured together here
Sergeant Zac Halpern of the Folly Beach Police Department reported that he Komoroski asked how drunk she was on a scale of one to ten, muttering that she was an eight before demanding a lawyer.
OOfficers responding to the scene attempted to administer a sobriety test, but she refused, screaming for her boyfriend.
Police noted that she appeared to be trying to hide her eyes from them.
Komoroski was the sole occupant of the vehicle and was charged with three counts of DUI resulting in grievous bodily harm or death and one count of reckless homicide.
The couple was married on Saturday on the beach where a memorial for Samantha was organized on Saturday
Pictured: Samantha is walked down the aisle on her wedding day
Samantha and Aric are pictured on Folly Beach hours before the crash that would kill the bride and seriously injure her husband
The couple was celebrating their marriage when the incident happened
The couple had married just before the crash on Folly Beach in South Carolina
Jamie Lee Komoroski’s wrecked sedan, which ABC4 reported had pieces of Samantha Hutchinson’s wedding dress embedded in the bumper
The Logistics Account Executive remains in custody at Sheriff Al Cannon’s detention center and will appear in court in June in connection with the incident.
She faces up to 25 years in prison for the bride’s death, as well as a fine of up to $25,100, and an additional 15 years and $10,100 for the serious injury to the men in the buggy.
For the reckless murder, she could face a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of up to $5,000, as well as having her driver’s license revoked for five years after release.
a GoFundMe page for the funeral and medical expenses has now reached more than $720,000.