Samantha Hutchinson’s husband and family receives $1.3 million settlement after she was killed on her wedding night in crash with drunk driver Jamie Lee Komoroski

The grieving family and husband of a bride who died in a crash with a drunk driver on her wedding night last year have received a major settlement.

Judge Robert Young ruled Tuesday that Samantha Hutchinson’s parents and newlywed husband, as well as two other crash victims, will receive a $1.3 million settlement from her wrongful death lawsuit against the accused drunk driver and the restaurants and bars that served her . WCSC reports.

Jamie Lee Komorosk, 26, was three times over the legal blood alcohol limit after a day of bar hopping when she allegedly crashed into a golf cart with newlyweds Aric, 37, and Samantha, 34, during their beach wedding ceremony on Folly Beach, South Carolina, April 28, 2023.

She is now serving house arrest in an upscale enclave of Charleston, and has not yet turned over any money in the settlement.

Among those who have agreed to participate in the settlement are a number of Lowcountry bars, as well as Hutchinson’s Progressive Policy and Enterprise Rent-a-Car, which had rented the SUV Komoroski was driving that night.

Two other beach bars settled in October for allowing Komoroski to become “visibly intoxicated” before crashing.

The money will now be split between Aric, her parents and two others who were in the golf cart with the newlyweds that evening.

But settlements still need to be reached with all the defendants named in Hutchinson’s wrongful death lawsuit, while the lawsuit with the Taco Boy restaurant continues.

The wrongful death suit states that Komoroski was briefly employed by Taco Boy.

It was alleged that the restaurant was negligent for “organizing, arranging and supervising an employee meeting/meeting knowing that excessive quantities of alcoholic beverages would be purchased for, served to and/or consumed by the employees attending the meeting/meeting.” ‘

However, Taco Boy has argued that Komoroski was not at their restaurant and was not served alcohol there the night of the fatal crash, according to WCSC.

It also denies that there was any ‘organized employee function around drinking’.

But when Komoroski crashed her SUV into the Hutchinsons — who had just left their wedding in a golf cart with two other passengers — she was traveling at 65 mph.

The impact threw the cart 100 yards, causing it to overturn several times.

The Hutchinsons were then rushed to a local hospital, but the bride succumbed to her injuries and died in her wedding dress.

Her husband, Aric, was left with serious injuries and underwent two reconstruction surgeries, but also suffered numerous broken bones and brain injuries.

In a later interview with Good Morning America, he recalled their last moments together before the fatal crash.

“The last thing I remember her saying was that she wanted the night to never end,” he said.

The next thing he knew, he was at the hospital asking where his wife was.

“That’s when [my mother] told me there was an incident and Sam didn’t make it,” he told ABC.

In the aftermath, Komoroski was indicted on one count of felony DUI resulting in death, two counts of misdemeanor DUI resulting in great bodily harm, and one count of reckless homicide.

She admitted that she had two drinks an hour before the crash: a beer and a tequila-pineapple cocktail.

But she would later admit in a phone conversation on December 11, months before she was released on $150,000 bond, that she is an “alcohol addict because anything that makes me feel different or distracts me from what I should be feeling, I tried.” always.’

‘I just didn’t think life had any meaning. I was extremely lonely and had no life. I could never just sit with my thoughts,” she continued in a phone call from the New York Post.

Komoroski failed to bond last August when her lawyers presented a slew of reasons why she was not a flight risk and suggested she be released into the care of her mother in New Jersey and undergo rehabilitation for an alcohol problem .

The Charleston County judge at the time denied bail and included a stipulation that Komoroski would be released on a $150,000 bond if she was still awaiting trial in March 2024, but that she would have to remain in Charleston County.

Under the terms of her bond, Komoroski cannot leave her apartment for anything other than “medical emergencies” or court dates.

She must also wear a GPS and SCRAM ankle bracelet – a device that monitors alcohol consumption every thirty minutes by monitoring sweat.

If she is ultimately convicted of the fatal crash, the misdemeanor count of DUI resulting in death alone carries a fine of up to $25,000, and a mandatory one-year prison sentence with a maximum sentence of 25 years.

If sentenced to the minimum, Komoroski could be out of jail within two months, given the time he has already served.