Bride’s Husband Killed in Alleged Drunk Driving Crash on Wedding Night to Receive Nearly $1 Million in Settlement

FOLLY BEACH, South Carolina — The husband of a bride who was killed in a traffic collision on a South Carolina beach on her wedding night last year will receive nearly $1 million in accident compensation, which a driver drunk would have caused.

The Post and Courier reported that Aric Hutchinson would receive approximately $863,300 from Folly Beach bars, The Drop In Bar. & Deli, the Crab Shack and Snapper Jacks; Progressive auto insurance; and Enterprise Rent-A-Car, according to a settlement approved earlier this week by Charleston County Circuit Court Judge Roger Young.

Hutchinson sued the companies after driver Jamie Lee Komoroski crashed a rental vehicle into a golf cart carrying him and his new bride, Samantha Miller, 34, away from their wedding reception on April 28, 2023.

The golf cart was thrown 100 yards (91.44 meters). Miller died at the scene, still wearing her wedding dress. Hutchinson survived with a brain injury and multiple fractures. Komoroski was driving 65 mph on a 40 mph road, the newspaper reported.

Hutchinson accused in the wrongful death suit Komoroski of “moving and staggering” through several bars around Folly Beach before speeding in his Toyota Camry with a blood-alcohol level more than three times the legal limit.

The settlements are worth $1.3 million, but the total will be less than that amount after attorney and legal fees are paid.

Komoroski is free on bail as her case works its way through the court system. In September, she was charged with driving under the influence resulting in death, reckless homicide and two counts of driving under the influence resulting in serious bodily injury.