Alleged drunk driver Jamie Lee Komoroski’s lawyers speak out

Attorneys representing the accused drunk driver who struck and killed newlywed bride Samantha Hutchinson on the day of her South Carolina nuptials are asking the public “not to rush to judgment.”

Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, last week retained two high-powered attorneys, Nathan S. Williams and Christopher S. Gramccioni, to defend her in her criminal case.

Williams is a former federal prosecutor best known for trying mass shooter Dylann Roof and convincing a jury to give him the death penalty.

Gramccioni spent nearly a decade serving as a prosecutor in Monmouth County, New Jersey, before entering private practice in 2021.

“We cannot fathom what the families are going through and offer our deepest sympathies,” the attorneys said in a written statement to the Post & Courier. “We simply ask that there not be a rush to judgment. Our court system is founded upon principles of justice and mercy and that is where all facts will come to light.”

Komoroski, formerly a waitress at a taco eatery, is accused of drunkenly rear-ending a golf cart that Samantha Hutchinson and her new husband, Aric Hutchinson, were riding in after their wedding reception at Folley Beach, South Carolina, on April 28.

Officials said Komoroski was going 40 mph over the 25 mph speed limit in her rented Toyota Camry along a poorly lit residential street when she slammed into the newlyweds’ slow-moving vehicle, which was thrown 100 yards on impact and rolled over several times.

Samantha, 34, was declared dead at the debris-littered scene, still wearing her white wedding dress.

Her 36-year-old husband was transported to a hospital suffering from a brain injury and multiple broken bones. He underwent two surgeries and was released home on May 4.  

Komoroski, who was not injured in the collision, was arrested and charged with three counts of DUI involving death or serious bodily injury and reckless homicide.

According to arrest affidavits, Komoroski said she had a beer and a shot of tequila before getting behind the wheel that night. On an impairment scale of 1 to 10, she ranked herself an 8.

The 25-year-old suspect smelled of alcohol but “strongly refused” a field sobriety test at the scene, police said. She remains jailed in North Charleston, having been denied bond.

A judge has signed a warrant for two vials of blood to be drawn from Komoroski. Police are still waiting for tests results that will show her blood alcohol level the night of the crash.  

Andrew Gilreath, director of the Folly Beach Public Safety Department, said that his detectives are busy interviewing residents and bar owners, reviewing credit card receipts and recovering data from Komoroski’s cellphone to create a timeline of her actions leading up to the collision.

Komoroski grew up in New Jersey but recently relocated to South Carolina. In 2020, she graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a degree in marketing.

She shared a home on James Island with two roommates and worked as a server at the Mexican restaurant Taco Boy, where a manager described the now-former employee as having a “good personality for the job.”

Family members of the tragic newlyweds said Samantha and Aric met three years ago on a work trip to Idaho. They lived in an apartment on James Island since 2021 but planned to buy a home in the Charleston area where they could raise a family.  

“They deserved each other,” said Samantha’s mom, Lisa Miller, who is now planning her daughter’s funeral while supporting her widowed son-in-law.