The mother of the bride, who was slain by an alleged drunk driver on her wedding day, claimed her daughter delighted her with a mother-daughter dance to “our song” during the celebration, which she wanted might “go on forever.”
Lisa Miller described the devastating details of her daughter, Samantha “Sam” Hutchinson’s fairytale day, before the 34-year-old newlywed was murdered and her husband, Aric Hutchinson, was gravely injured in a car accident shortly after their reception on Friday night.
According to the distraught father, the pair “announced a surprise dance for the most important person in Sam’s life — which was me — and we danced to Bruno Mars, ‘Just the Way You Are.’ That’s our song.”
Miller added: “On the beginning of the golf cart ride, she said I wished this night could go on forever. The best night of her life.”
Hutchinson’s sister, Mandi Jenkins, recalled getting ready with her excited sibling that day.
“It was the best day of her life,” she told the outlet.
“I’ve never seen the light in her eyes shine as bright as that day, from the moment that day started, getting ready for her wedding at the house.”
The mother and sister also recounted the harrowing moments after Hutchinson was killed.
“We were in our pajamas sitting on the balcony beside Bert’s at our place where we’re staying and started to hear the sirens,” Jenkins told WCIV, referring to a market in Folly Beach.
“And the sirens kept going,” she said.
The family texted Sam but got no response so they rushed to where the emergency vehicles were headed.
“We just got out of the truck and just running, screaming, ‘Sam! Sam!’” Miller said.
“Caution tape, so many lights, it was dark but there were so many lights,” Jenkins said about the chaotic scene, where they made the shattering discovery.
Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, the driver of the rented car that slammed into the cart, is charged with three counts of DWI causing death and reckless vehicular murder.
According to authorities, she was speeding at 65 mph and only tapped the brakes seconds before the crash.
“I don’t know what the distraction was, but she literally ran into my daughter going 65 miles an hour. Sammie and Aric were on the back of the golf cart and so she basically just whammed my child,” Miller told the news outlet.
The family now wants to raise awareness to the dangers of drunken driving.
“That person made a careless mistake. And it’s not a mistake. It is a life-changing event,” Jenkins said. “I never thought it would happen to us and to my beautiful sister, your beautiful daughter and all the 150 people that were there.”
According to his mother, Aric is still in the ICU with a brain damage and several fractured bones.
Ben Garret and Brogan Garret, two of his relatives on the waggon, were also hurt.
According to police papers, Komoroski declined to undergo a field sobriety test after the incident, despite telling investigators she had a shot of tequila and one beer approximately an hour before the crash.
