Husband of bride killed by alleged drunk driver after wedding reception reaches $1.37 million wrongful death settlement with local bars and other businesses

A judge in South Carolina has approved a partial settlement of more than $1 million for a newlywed husband turned widower who lost his wife on a South Carolina beach road just hours after their wedding in April 2023.

On the night in question, Jamie Lee Komoroski, 26, was allegedly behind the wheel and severely intoxicated when she struck the golf cart carrying the celebratory couple as they left their wedding reception. The crash killed Samantha Miller, 34, and injured her husband, Aric Hutchinson, as well as his brother-in-law and nephew.

In May 2023, Hutchinson filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Komoroski, local bars and businesses, and 20 Doe defendants. Some businesses reached a tentative settlement with the grieving groom last October; a court signed off on that agreement on Thursday.

While Hutchinson accused Komoroski of “bar hopping” that night, he accused The Crab Shack, Taco Boy, The Drop In/Folly Deli, Snapper Jacks, and El Gallo of overserving her — allowing the alleged drunk driver to continue purchasing alcohol when they knew she was drunk.

The court ordered The Crab Shack to pay $640,000, The Folly Deli to pay $320,000, Snapper Jacks to pay $320,000, Progressive Northern Insurance Company to pay $75,000, and Enterprise Rent-a-Car to pay $24,000. In sum, the settlement amounts to some $1.379 million, according to a report by CBS News.

According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the drunk driver was traveling 65 mph at the time of impact in the largely residential area, which has a speed limit of 25 mph.

Komoroski allegedly refused a field sobriety test and reeked of alcohol, telling law enforcement that she only had one beer and a drink with tequila about an hour before the crash, police wrote in an affidavit. According to at least one witness on the scene, the defendant repeatedly said she “did nothing wrong.”

When the defendant refused to take a field sobriety test and give a breath sample, police obtained a warrant to draw blood. Tests showed she had a blood alcohol content of .261, more than three times the legal limit in South Carolina. She was booked into the Charleston County jail under suicide watch after she told an officer she wanted to kill herself. She was charged with three counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury/death and one count of reckless homicide.

The lawsuit accused all defendants of wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The bars were singled out for claims of negligent, grossly negligent, and/or reckless hiring, supervision, training and retention. The lawsuit also revealed that Komoroski worked at Taco Boy — and was allegedly drinking there as well.

Taco Boy was further singled out in the lawsuit for allegedly serving “a dangerous amount” of alcohol at a work function that night and then allowing Komoroski “to leave and drive away.”

Taco Boy has since released a lengthy statement saying that the then-recently hired Komoroski had since been fired. The restaurant denied Komoroski ever entered the restaurant on the day of the fatal crash and asserted that claims of an “officially organized” restaurant employee work or drinking “function” were false.

The restaurant is not named in the settlement.

Matt Naham contributed to this report.

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