A bride leaving her wedding reception was killed when a woman driving under the influence and well over twice the speed limit slammed into the back of a golf cart on a South Carolina beach road, authorities said.
Data retrieved from Jamie Lee Komoroski’s rental car indicated she was driving 65 mph and only briefly hit the brakes before she hit the golf cart around 10 p.m. Friday on Folly Beach, investigators said.
The speed limit on the island near Charleston is 25 mph.
Samantha Miller, 34, of Charlotte, North Carolina, died in the wreck, according to the Charleston County Coroner’s Office.
Miller had just got married hours earlier, Folly Beach Public Safety Department Director Andrew Gilreath said.
Three others in the golf cart including the groom were injured. Gilreath said the golf cart had lights and was legal to drive at night.
The groom’s mother created a GoFundMe Page to pay for her daughter-in-law’s funeral and her son’s medical bills. It included a photo of the newlyweds running under sparklers just before the crash.
It also had a photo of groom Aric Hutchinson in the hospital, where he was recovering from a brain injury and numerous broken bones after the golf cart rolled over several times and was thrown 100 yards. The GoFundMe page says he has many broken bones, a brain injury and faces a long recovery.
“I was handed Aric’s wedding ring in a plastic bag at the hospital, five hours after Sam placed it on his finger and they read each other their vows,” the groom’s mother wrote. “Aric has lost the love of his life.”
The GoFundMe page had raised over $247,000 by Tuesday morning.
Komoroski, 25, 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.
Komoroski remained in the Charleston County jail Monday afternoon and records did not indicate if she had a lawyer.
Miller was from North Carolina and Hutchinson grew up in Utah where he played college football, the groom’s mother said.
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