Drunk driver accused killing newlywed bride hours after wedding, dressed as 'Bud Lightyear' for Hall

May 2024 · 4 minute read

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The drunk driver who killed a newlywed bride and severely injured the groom just hours after their wedding was dressed as a Bud Light bottle at a Halloween party.

Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, posted a photo of herself in 2018 while dressed as “Bud Lightyear” — a play on the classic “Toy Story” character — in tight shorts, crop top and Bud Light boxes wrapped around her legs and ankles.

“To infinity and beerond,” the caption reads, in reference to Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase, “To infinity and beyond.” 

The post is one of several on Komoroski’s Instagram that make references to alcohol, including her latest post just one week ago where she is pictured on the beach in a bikini with the caption: “Did somebody say tequila?”

Komoroski was behind the wheel of a Toyota rental car on Friday night when she plowed into the back of a golf cart carrying newlyweds Samantha Hutchinson and her husband, Aric, from their Folly Beach, South Carolina wedding reception.

Hutchinson, 34, of North Carolina, was declared dead at the scene.

Her husband and another passenger remain in the hospital with severe injuries.

Komoroski dressed as “Bud Lightyear” for Halloween in 2018, according to an Instagram post. Jamie Komoroski/Instagram
Komoroski is charged with mowing down a newlywed bride while she was drunk behind the wheel. Jamie Komoroski/Instagram

Police said that Komoroski, who was not injured in the crash, was driving 65 miles per hour when she struck the golf cart.

The cart was found about 75 yards away from the collision, ABC reported.

Everything you need to know about Sam Hutchinson's tragic death

Who was Sam Hutchinson?

The 34-year-old was tragically killed by a drunk driver as she was leaving her wedding reception with her husband, Aric, who suffered severe injuries.

Hutchinson was reportedly killed by Jamie Lee Komoroski, who was three-times over the legal limit, while the bride and groom exited the wedding reception on a golf cart.

Hutchinson was declared dead at the scene.

Aric filed a wrongful death suit against the alleged drunk driver and the bars that he says over served her before the horrific incident.

What will happen to Jamie Lee Komoroski?

Komoroski, 25, plowed into the Hutchinsons’ golf cart while driving around 65 miles per hour, according to Folly Beach police.

The driver reportedly smelled of alcohol but refused to take a sobriety test.

She was charged with three felony DUIs resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide. She is facing up to 25 years in jail.

Despite alleged special treatment in jail, Komoroski reportedly has griped about everything, from the food to not being allowed to hold the TV remote control — and not getting an exercise mat to do crunches.

Komoroski has started outlining her plans for her own wedding in a tearful jail phone call with her father, obtained exclusively by The Post.

She smelled of alcohol but “strongly refused and became uncooperative” when she was asked to take a field sobriety test after the crash, according to police documents. 

Many of Komoroski’s Instagram posts make references to alcohol and drinking. Jamie Komoroski/Instagram
Komoroski, 25, refused to a take a field sobriety test after the fatal crash. Jamie Komoroski/Instagram

She told first responders that she had had one beer and one tequila shot before the accident.

When asked how she felt on a scale of 1 to 10 — with 10 being completely sober — Komoroski rated herself an 8, WCIV reported.

The results of a blood test are still pending.

Samantha Hutchinson was declared dead at the scene while Aric Hutchinson remains in the hospital with severe injuries. Facebook / Samantha Miller
The newlyweds were riding in a golf cart back from their wedding reception in Folly Beach when Komoroski hit them while going 65 miles per hour, police said. Facebook / Michael D Peifer

Komoroski was charged with three felony DUIs resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide.

She was placed on suicide watch at Charleston County jail in South Carolina on Saturday after she told an officer at the hospital that she wanted to kill herself, according to charging documents.

She is being held without bail.

Komoroski is currently on suicide watch after she told an officer she wanted to kill herself. AP

The tragedy has left both Samantha and Aric’s families mourning over a lost future.

“I was handed Aric’s wedding ring in a plastic bag at the hospital, five hours after Sam placed it on his finger and they read each other their vows,” the groom’s mother wrote on the GoFundMe launched hours after the tragedy.

“Aric has lost the love of his life.”

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