Alleged drunk driver who killed bride Samantha Hutchinson on suicide watch: report

Police are now seriously concerned for the alleged drunk driver who ploughed into a newly married couple, killing the bride.

The alleged drunk driver who killed a newlywed bride and severely injured the groom in a grisly weekend crash is on suicide watch in jail, authorities in the US state of South Carolina said.

Jamie Lee Komoroski, 25, was booked under suicide watch at Charleston County jail on Saturday after she told an officer at the hospital that she wanted to kill herself, according to a police affidavit.

Ms Komoroski was behind the wheel of a Toyota rental car on Friday night when she allegedly ploughed into a golf cart carrying Samantha Hutchinson and her husband, Aric, away from their wedding reception in Folly Beach, 40km south of Charleston, reports the New York Post.

Samantha and Aric Hutchinson had just celebrated their wedding. Picture: GoFundMe.

According to the affidavit, officers arrived shortly after 10.15pm and found “multiple victims” strewn throughout the area.

Ms Hutchinson, 34, was found not breathing and with no pulse and was declared dead at the scene. Her husband and two other passengers were severely injured and remain in the hospital.

Folly Beach Police said Ms Komoroski, who was not injured, was driving 105km/h per hour at the time of the crash and that she smelled of alcohol but, bafflingly, refused a breath test.

According to the affidavit, 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 one to 10 — 10 being completely sober — Ms Komoroski allegedly rated herself an eight.

Jamie Komoroski has been charged with driving under the influence resulting in reckless homicide.

Aric Hutchinson in hospital. Picture: GoFundMe.

The results of Ms Komoroski’s blood test are pending, but Charleston County records show that she was charged with three felony DUIs (driving under the influence) resulting in great bodily injury or death and one count of reckless homicide.

She is being held without bail.

Meanwhile, the Hutchinsons’ families are struggling to grapple with their loss during what should have been the happiest period of the couple’s life.

“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 started hours after the tragedy.

“Aric has lost the love of his life.”

This story appeared in the New York Post and is reproduced with permission.