A newlywed couple riding away from their wedding reception in a golf cart was struck by a suspected drunk driver, resulting in the bride’s death and the groom being seriously injured.
The incident occurred in Folly Beach, South Carolina, about 10 miles outside of Charleston, on April 28, according to an NBC report. The bride, Samantha Hutchinson, 34, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Her husband, Aric Hutchinson, and two other family members in the golf cart were seriously injured and “in and out of consciousness” when police arrived, the outlet noted.
Authorities identified the car’s driver as 25-year-old Jamie Lee Komoroski. An Associated Press report said she was traveling 65 mph in a 25 mph zone and briefly hit the brakes before crashing into the golf cart from behind.
The golf cart rolled over several times and was thrown a distance of 100 yards. The publication noted that the golf cart was equipped with lights and was legally driving on the road at night.
Komorski admitted to consuming alcohol before getting behind the wheel. When asked how impaired she was on a scale from one to 10, “she stated she was at an 8,” the affidavit said. Komorski was charged with one count of reckless vehicular homicide and three counts of felony DUI resulting in great bodily harm, the NBC report said.
“My sister, a daughter, a wife, died in her wedding dress because someone made a terrible decision to get in the car,” Samantha Hutchinson’s sister, Mandi Jenkins, told TODAY on Tuesday.
“She, from the moment she woke up that day until she left the venue, she told Aric on the golf cart that she wanted this day to last forever,” Jenkins said. “He told us that at the hospital today when we saw him.”
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The groom’s mother, Annette Hutchinson, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for medical expenses and the bride’s burial. As of Wednesday, the campaign raised just over $600,000.
“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,” Annette Hutchinson wrote in the post, which included both wedding photos and images of her son in the hospital. “Aric has lost the love of his life.”