Groom files wrongful death lawsuit after bride killed in golf cart crash on wedding night

FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC/Gray News) – A newlywed man involved in a golf cart crash that killed his bride, injured him and two others has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the accused driver of the car that hit them and several restaurants and bars in South Carolina.

Samantha Miller, 34, died when a car crashed into the golf cart she was riding in after her wedding, according to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses said the force of the impact threw the golf cart more than 100 yards and made it roll several times.

Her husband, Aric Hutchinson, was also severely injured in the crash and was hospitalized for several days.

Two other people from the wedding party were also injured.

Hutchinson and Miller had only been married for a few hours before the crash happened.

Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, was charged with DUI causing serious bodily injury/death and reckless homicide in connection to the crash.

Newly filed lawsuit

A newly filed lawsuit alleges Komoroski had a “booze-filled day of bar hopping,” and the establishments she visited that day had an obligation to “exercise due care” in serving alcoholic beverages.

In addition to naming Komoroski, the lawsuit names Snapper Jacks, The Drop in Bar and Deli, The Crab Shack, Taco Boy, El Gallo Bar and Grill, and Bottle Cap Holdings, LLC.

Court documents allege Komoroski started drinking at El Gallo Bar and Grill before going to Folly Beach and visiting several bars on Center Street.

Each of the named establishments “should have known that they had the authority and obligation to train, control, and supervise their respective employees, agents, or servants, including any bartenders, servers or any other employee” to not overserve patrons alcohol and not place others at risk of incurring serious injury or death, the lawsuit states.

In naming Taco Boy, the lawsuit states Komoroski had been an employee for a short time.

The lawsuit alleges the restaurant was negligent by “organizing, arranging, and supervising an employee function/meeting knowing that excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages would be purchased for, served to, and/or consumed by the employees attending the function/meeting.”

Authorities release the BAC of the accused driver

The toxicology report from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division states that Komoroski had a blood alcohol level of 0.261% when she was tested after the April 28 crash with a golf cart on Folly Beach, more than three times the legal limit in South Carolina.

Along with the toxicology report, the Folly Beach Police Department also sent an updated report of the incident.

Immediately after the crash, officers asked Komoroski what happened to which she replied, “I was driving, and then all of the sudden something hit me,” the report reads.

Also, in the report, multiple witness recall seeing Komoroski “dazed and confused.” At the scene, she kept asking for her boyfriend and telling the witnesses she was on her way home, the report stated.

Once she saw the victims on the ground, Komoroski started screaming and asking what happened, witnesses say.

Officers said they could smell an odor of alcohol coming from her breath.

“I asked Jamie if she had anything to drink, and she stated that she had one beer and a drink with tequila about an hour ago,” the affidavit states. “I then ask on a scale from 1 being completely sober and 10 being the most impaired, she stated she was an eight.”

Folly Beach Police said Komoroski strongly refused to complete a field sobriety test and became uncooperative.

The affidavit states that when the suspect stood up, she was very unsteady on her feet and almost fell down, leading an officer to help her stand.

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