What to Know
- A pair of newlyweds leaving their reception in a golf cart were hit by an alleged intoxicated driver from behind on April 28; the bride died, still in her wedding dress, and her husband was badly hurt
- The driver charged, Jamie Lee Komoroski, went to high school in New Jersey and was living in Charleston at the time of the crash; she had recently been hired by a local restaurant, reports say
- Komoroski's attorneys, who include former Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni, issued a statement Tuesday offering condolences and asked there be no rush to judgment
The New Jersey high school graduate who went to college in South Carolina -- and allegedly sped into the back of a golf cart carrying a couple leaving their wedding reception, killing the bride in her wedding dress late last month -- has hired a top former Garden State prosecutor to help defend her.
Christopher Gramiccioni, who stepped down as Monmouth County prosecutor in June 2021 after years in the position, released the first public statement on Jamie Lee Komoroski's behalf this past Tuesday.
In it, he says, "We cannot fathom what the families are going through and offer our deepest sympathies. 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."
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Komoroski, a 25-year-old who attended North Hunterdon High School and worked at a Flemington diner before launching her collegiate career at Coastal Carolina University, according to reports, was behind the wheel of the rental car that hit 34-year-old Samantha Miller, of North Carolina, and her newlywed husband, Aric Hutchinson on April 28.
Data retrieved from the car indicated she was driving 65 mph and only briefly hit the brakes before she hit the golf cart on Folly Beach, an island near Charleston, around 10 p.m., investigators have said. The speed limit is 25 mph.
Miller was pronounced dead in her wedding dress. Hutchinson suffered a brain injury and multiple broken bones, and while he is expected to survive, the recovery will be long, according to his mother. She established a GoFundMe page to support her son as well as her son-in-law and grandson, who were the couple's golf cart escorts from the reception.
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"All three are incredibly strong despite the pain they are suffering," mom Annette Hutchinson wrote in her latest update this week. Of her son, she wrote, "He is physically recovering at home while trying to come to terms with the loss of his beautiful wife. Now he is doing the unimaginable of planning Sam’s funeral along with her family."
The page has raised more than $711,000, well more than seven times its original goal, in the 11 days since it was created. It included photos of the newlyweds running under sparklers moments before the crash. At the hospital, Annette Hutchinson was handed a bag with her son's wedding band, which his now-dead wife put on him hours earlier.
Komoroski, who wasn't hurt in the crash, is charged with reckless vehicular homicide and three counts of driving under the influence causing death. She faces one to 25 years in prison on each DUI count.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
