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A South Carolina woman who drank before getting behind the wheel and crashing into a golf cart carrying a newlyweds leaving their wedding reception was sentenced on Monday to 25 years in prison.
The punishment represented the maximum sentence for Jamie Lee Komoroski, 27, who pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, felony DUI causing death, and two counts of felony DUI causing great bodily injury.
Komoroski collided on April 28, 2023, with a golf cart outside of Folly Beach carrying the bride and groom, Samantha Miller and Aric Hutchinson, while driving 65 mph, over two times the beach road’s speed limit.
The cart was thrown 100 yards in the crash, leaving Hutchinson with a brain injury and broken bones, and killing Miller, who was still wearing her wedding dress. The crash injured two others in the cart as well.
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“I wish I could go back and undo this terrible tragedy. But I cannot,” Komoroski said during her sentencing. “I will live the rest of my life with intense regret for what happened that night.”
She added that she realized she was addicted to alcohol at the time of the crash and vowed to dedicate her life to helping addicts.
April 2023 crash killed newlywed Samantha Miller and left her husband Aric Hutchinson with serious injuries (AP)
The sentencing also featured Hutchinson sharing remarks about his immense loss.
“On the golf cart, she told me she didn’t want the night to end and I kissed her on the forehead and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital,” he said.
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The widower, who won a $863,000 settlement from three bars that served Komoroski before the crash, as well as her insurance firm and a rental car company, told WCSC he was satisfied with the sentence on Monday.
“I feel like the punishment fit the crime,” he said. “I do think she’s sorry. However, that doesn’t change the fact that Sam’s not here, my wife’s not here, the family we planned, all of our injuries. So that’ll take some time for sure.”
When police first encountered Komoroski, they could smell alcohol on her breath, and she refused to conduct a field sobriety test. A blood alcohol test revealed a level of 0.26 percent, more than three times the state’s legal limit to drive.
“She got to do what she wanted today, which was accept responsibility, fall on her sword cause obviously that is part of the healing not just for the families of the victims but for also her,” Komoroski’s attorney, Chris Gramiccioni, told WREG.
Three-star defensive line recruit Christian Ingram signed with the South Carolina on Wednesday, committing to the Gamecocks over the USC Trojans and the Kentucky Wildcats, his other two finalists.
After announcing his commitment to South Carolina, Rivals’ Sam Spiegelman revealed part of the reason why Ingram chose the Gamecocks over the USC Trojans.
“The culture there is to work hard, take care of your brothers, and attack the day every day,” Ingram told Spiegelman. “I live by that standard.”
Defensive line recruit Christian Ingram on his visit to the USC Trojans. / @imcingram / Instagra
The Trojans were once viewed as the leaders in Ingram’s recruitment, but the defensive line recruit decided against the move to Southern California to play for USC coach Lincoln Riley’s program. Ingram is from Covington, Georgia, and as these recruitments come down to the wire, the distance between USC and some prospects’ hometowns feels larger and larger.
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Before finalizing his decision, Ingram visited both South Carolina and USC. The three-star recruit watched the Gamecocks host Wofford on Nov. 23, and the Trojans received the final visit from Ingram on Nov. 30 as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat USC in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
South Carolina is having success on the recruiting trail and on the field. Although the Gamecocks are not expected to make the College Football Playoff field, they finished the regular season with a 9-3 record led by coach Shane Beamer.
MORE: USC Trojans Land Top-10 Recruiting Class? Early National Signing Day Tracker
MORE: USC Trojans Offensive Lineman Gino Quinones Enters Transfer Portal
MORE: USC Trojans’ Matt Entz Raves About Freshman Linebacker Desman Stephens II’s Potential
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MORE: USC Trojans’ Matt Leinart, Matt Barkley Disturbed By USC Trojans After Notre Dame Loss
MORE: USC Trojans Recruiting: Trending For Elite Defensive Lineman Christian Ingram
MORE: USC Trojans Quarterback Miller Moss Enters Transfer Portal: NIL Value, Landing Spots
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MORE: Should USC Trojans Lincoln Riley Be Fired After Notre Dame Loss, Mediocre Season?
Samford Bulldogs (7-2) at South Carolina State Bulldogs (4-5)
Orangeburg, South Carolina; Thursday, 7 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Samford looks to keep its three-game win streak alive when the Samford Bulldogs take on South Carolina State.
The South Carolina State Bulldogs have gone 2-0 in home games. South Carolina State is fourth in the MEAC scoring 77.1 points while shooting 45.5% from the field.
The Samford Bulldogs are 1-2 on the road. Samford scores 92.9 points and has outscored opponents by 15.3 points per game.
South Carolina State is shooting 45.5% from the field this season, 1.9 percentage points higher than the 43.6% Samford allows to opponents. Samford averages 24.0 more points per game (92.9) than South Carolina State gives up (68.9).
TOP PERFORMERS: Drayton Jones is scoring 11.6 points per game with 5.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists for the South Carolina State Bulldogs.
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Jaden Brownell is averaging 15.6 points for the Samford Bulldogs.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Nothing is finalized yet, but Alabama football sits on the doorstep of the College Football Playoff.
The CFP rankings released Tuesday night fell exactly how the Crimson Tide needed them to fall. Alabama moved up to No. 11 after winning the Iron Bowl. That means, if the season ended today, the Crimson Tide would own the No. 11 seed and head to South Bend, Indiana to face Notre Dame.
The most significant part of Tuesday’s reveal was that Miami fell to No. 12 after it lost to Syracuse. Also, Ole Miss was ranked No. 13 and South Carolina was put in the No. 14 spot.
One of the biggest questions heading into the rankings Tuesday night was where these four teams would be ranked. Alabama, Ole Miss and South Carolina are all 9-3 and won’t play another game before Selection Day. Meanwhile, Miami is 10-2 but doesn’t have a top 25 victory.
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It doesn’t sound like the order of these four teams will change, no matter what happens this weekend in conference championships.
“Any team that is not playing right now, we don’t have a data point to rearrange where we have those teams ranked,” CFP chair Warde Manuel said on ESPN. “That is set in terms of how we see them going into the final week of championship week. There’s nothing that’s going to change for us to evaluate any of them differently than we have now.
“Those teams who are not playing cannot be adjusted in terms of where they are compared to other teams that are not playing. But the championship teams, we will evaluate that data point to determine if there needs to be any movement based on how the performance of the game goes.”
Nick Kelly is an Alabama beat writer for AL.com and the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X and Instagram.
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