Photo: Folly Beach Police
Jamie Lee Komoroski, the woman accused of driving drunk during the fatal crash that killed new bride Samantha Hutchinson on her wedding night, will be released from jail less than a year after the fatal accident took place.
Komoroski, 26, posted $150,000 bond on Friday (March 1), according to jail records obtained by the New York Post, which also received confirmation from sources with knowledge of her case. The New York Post had previously obtained footage of Komoroski being denied bond while appearing in court virtually last August.
Komoroski is expected to be placed under house arrest with an ankle monitor after a judge had previously denied bail, but later ruled otherwise as the trial was not scheduled to start before March. The Charleston County Court confirmed that a date for the trial had not yet been scheduled but couldn't provide an explanation as to why, according to the New York Post. Lisa Miller, Hutchinson's mother, said she campaigned for Komoroski to be on "the most restrictions possible" as she awaits trial.
“I want that to include house arrest, ankle monitoring and not being able to leave the state,” Miller said. “We were all expecting she would have been bonded out first time [last summer] but luckily the judge kept her in, I think that was to do with our impact statements.”
Komorosk faces three charges of felony DUI resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide in relation to the crash in which she's accused of drunkenly ramming a rented Toyota Camry into a car carrying Samantha, her new husband, Aric Hutchinson, and two other passengers. Police said Komoroski was driving about 40 MPH over the 25-MPH speed limit at the time of the crash and smelled of alcohol but refused a field sobriety test.
Aric Hutchinson, who was hospitalized for serious injuries sustained, filed a civil lawsuit against Komoroski and the bars that allegedly overserved her prior to the crash. The 25-year-old was booked on April 28 and reported to have had bloodshot eyes and smelled of alcohol, as well as banged her head on a nurse's desk after being denied usage of a phone.
Komoroski reportedly complained that her "whole life is going to be over" after being arrested, according to jailhouse recordings obtained by the Post and Courier. The 25-year-old was visited by family and friends in the days following her arrest, which included being worried that people would think she's a bad person because of the crash and giving her boyfriend permission to leave her.
She also claimed that other inmates would get out on bond while she continued to wait for her trial.
“There’s been people that have, like, killed people on purpose before and, like, they’ve gotten out on a bond,” Komoroski reportedly told friends while warning them to not be “stupid like I was because all it takes is one time” via the Post and Courier.
“I didn’t mean it to happen,” Komoroski said via the Post and Courier. “I just feel like a terrible person, like, I didn’t mean for any of that to happen.”
Komoroski also told her parents she hoped the judge knew "how regretful and remorseful I am, and that I’m not a bad person and that I’ll never do anything bad again,” which led to her father telling her not to speak about the crash because her conversations were being recorded.
“But I wanted to make sure that I could say an apology and they said I would be able to say an apology,” she said, which led to him responding, “Listen, stop talking about it" and later predicted she would get less than 15 years in prison but warned "you're going to have to do time."