A US driver who killed a bride and seriously injured the groom as they left their wedding reception has been jailed for 25 years.
Jamie Lee Komoroski was driving at 65mph in a 25mph zone in South Carolina when she crashed her car into a golf cart – which was decorated with cans and a “just married” sign – carrying newlyweds Aric Hutchinson and Samantha Miller.
Samantha, 34, was killed, while her husband Aric was seriously injured. Two others from the wedding party riding in the cart were also hurt in the crash.
A number of friends and family of both Miller and Komoroski spoke at the hearing, which lasted nearly three hours.
Samantha’s father, Brad Warner, revealed the impact of his daughter’s death on his life before Komoroski’s sentencing.
“You [Komoroski] have ruined so many people’s lives, and I hope you understand what you did,” he said.
“For the rest of my life I’m going to hate you,” Samantha’s father, Brad Warner, told the court
“For the rest of my life I’m going to hate you. And when I arrive in hell and you come there, I’m going to open the gate for you.”
Speaking at the sentencing hearing, Aric Hutchinson said he sees more doctors and therapists than he can count because of his physical injuries and the mental anguish of the crash, and that he thinks about it every single day.
“I wish I had died that night. I wish I had seen it coming. I’d have jumped off the golf cart so you would only have run me over.”
He sustained a brain injury in the crash – and although he has no memory of the incident itself, he told the judge he was able to remember his final conversation with his wife.
“I think about that night every single day and the last moments I had with Sam on the golf cart,” he said.
“She told me she didn’t want the night to end. I kissed her on the forehead and the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital”.
During the sentencing, Aric Hutchinson said Komoroski “took the greatest human being I’ve ever met”
“Your sentence does not matter to me. If I had it my way, I’d give you life, seems only fair since you took Sam’s life,” he added.
Mr Hutchinson won $863,000 in legal settlements from three bars that served Komoroski as well as her insurance firm and the company she rented her car from.
After pleading guilty, Komoroski said she realised now she was addicted to alcohol and selfishly didn’t care how her actions affected others.
She promised to spend the rest of her life helping addicts and warning of the dangers of drinking and driving.
She said she was “devastated, deeply ashamed and sorry” for what she did.
Komoroski told the court she will “carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life”
Addressing the court, she said: “This is the worst decision I have ever made in my life, and it has affected the lives of so many.”
“I take full responsibility for the tragic outcome that my decisions have made. I will carry this guilt with me for the rest of my life.”
She said all her work will be dedicated to Miller’s memory.
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