Mother and sister of South Carolina bride killed on her wedding night by alleged drunken driver speak to Fox News Digital
Lisa Miller said the tragedy was "not an accident" and the driver made a "conscious choice" to "plow down my daughter."
The South Carolina woman accused of slamming her car into the back of a bride and groom's golf cart on their wedding night, killing one and sending three people to a hospital, admitted to being an "alcoholic addict" in jailhouse phone recordings, according to a new report.
Deputies in Charleston, South Carolina, arrested Jamie Komoroski, 26, in April 2023, but she went free on $150,000 bond earlier this month after prosecutors failed to bring her to trial by a judge's March 1 deadline.
Samantha Miller, the 34-year-old bride, died in the crash. Her groom, Aric Hutchinson, 36, her brother Benjamin Garrett and a juvenile relative were all seriously injured.
Jamie Lee Komoroski appears on the balcony of her home in Charleston, South Carolina, on Thursday, March 7, 2024. Komoroski was recently released on bond under the conditions of a house arrest while awaiting trial. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
In court filings, Komoroski's defense attorneys had already argued that she struggled for years with alcohol, depression and anxiety, but she allegedly fessed up in her own words in a Dec. 11 phone call with her sister, Kelsi, according to the New York Post.
"I consider myself an alcoholic addict because anything that makes me feel different or takes me away from what I’m supposed to be feeling, I used to try to do," she said. "I just didn’t think life had any meaning. I was extremely lonely and didn’t get life. I could never just sit down with my thoughts."
In other calls, Komoroski's father told her the conversations were being recorded. She also discussed reading the Bible while locked up and attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings inside the jail.
SOUTH CAROLINA WOMAN ACCUSED OF KILLING BRIDE IN DUI CRASH RELEASED FROM JAIL LESS THAN A YEAR LATER
Jamie Lee Komoroski's sister Kelsi and father Charles arrive at her home in Charleston, South Carolina, Thursday, March 7, 2024. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
"[In AA] we talk about how our higher power can’t stop something bad from happening because we’re given free will and free choice and with that comes consequences but he can make good things come of bad situations," she said, according to the Post report.
After she bailed out, her family helped her move into a new apartment in Charleston, where she is required to remain under the terms of her release.
Composite image showing Jamie Komoroski, left, before her arrest. She is accused of drunkenly driving her Toyota Camry into a golf cart carrying newlyweds Aric Hutchinson and Samantha Miller, right, killing the bride on her wedding night and seriously injuring three other people, including the groom. The background shows the aftermath of the crash. (Folly beach Public Safety, Jamie Komoroski/Instagram, SC 9th Judicial Circuit)
Photos show them carrying move-in supplies, including a throw blanket and a fruit stand, in one of several trips they made to the apartment last week.
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the surviving victims, Komoroski allegedly had a blood-alcohol content of .261 – more than triple the legal limit – after bar-hopping between at least four establishments ahead of the crash.
MOTHER OF SOUTH CAROLINA BRIDE KILLED IN WEDDING CRASH LASHES OUT AT ACCUSED DRUNK DRIVER
Bride Samantha Miller was killed and groom Aric Hutchinson seriously injured on their wedding night after an alleged drunk driver plowed into their golf cart in South Carolina. (GoFundMe)
After drinking for hours in at least four bars, the New Jersey native allegedly got behind the wheel "in her nearly unconscious state," made a wrong turn in the opposite direction of her home and rear-ended a golf cart "in the stupor of a drunken haze" while traveling more than 65 mph in a 25 mph zone.
Benjamin Garrett in his hospital bed beside groom Aric Hutchinson. Both men were seriously injured and bride Samantha Miller killed when an accused drunken driver slammed into their golf cart. (GoFundMe)
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She has been placed on house arrest with an ankle monitor.
She could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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