A woman accused of killing a bride when she crashed into a newlywed couple’s golf cart while allegedly driving under the influence must remain in custody as she awaits trial, a South Carolina judge ordered Tuesday.
Jamie Komoroski, 25, asked Circuit Court Judge Michael G. Nettles for bail after spending three months behind bars without trial following the April 28 crash in Folly Beach. She was denied.
Samantha Miller, 34, died in the late-night crash. Her husband, Aric Hutchinson, sustained a brain injury and broken bones, his mother, Annette Hutchinson, said on a GoFundMe page in May.
Two other people were injured, Folly Beach Department of Public Safety said at the time.
Komoroski’s blood alcohol content was more than three times the legal limit after the crash, according to a toxicology report released by the department.
Authorities said Komoroski was traveling at 65 in a 25 mph zone when the vehicle she was driving struck the cart, which police said was street legal for the area, according to The Associated Press.
Komoroski has been fighting the case, which includes charges of reckless homicide and DUI. On Tuesday, defense attorney Christopher Gramiccioni said his client has “zero criminal history.”
“She’s never even been disciplined at her college at Coastal Carolina or in high school,” he said in court. “I mean she has as clean of a record as you can imagine.”
Attorney Jerry Meehan said in a statement Miller’s family was pleased with the outcome and agreed with the judge’s decision that Komoroski “was a danger to the community.”
“I wouldn’t want anybody else to go through this,” the victim’s mother, Lisa Miller, said in a statement read in court.
Outside the courtroom, she said of the defendant, “Why should she just get out and go about her merry way?” according to NBC affiliate WCBD of Charleston.
Komoroski was being held at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center in Charleston. Nettles, the judge, said during his rejection of bail that if trial hasn’t happened by spring 2024, he’ll allow $150,000 bond with house arrest.
“We appreciate the court’s decision to release Jamie on bond in March 2024 if the State is not ready for trial, but we nonetheless believe that she has met the legal criteria for release today,” Gramiccioni said in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling.
John Filippelli and Valeriya Antonshchuk contributed.
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