The grieving mom of the bride killed by an alleged drunk driver on her wedding day said her daughter surprised her with a mother-daughter dance to “our song” during the celebration — which she wished could “go on forever.”
Lisa Miller recounted the heartbreaking details of her daughter, Samantha “Sam” Hutchinson’s fairytale day, before the 34-year-old newlywed was killed and her husband Aric Hutchinson was severely injured when they were rear-ended shortly after their reception on Friday night.
The devastated parent told WCIV that the couple “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 rental car that plowed into the cart, is charged with three counts of driving under the influence causing death and reckless vehicular homicide.
Authorities said she was driving at 65 mph and only hit the brakes right before the collision.
“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.”
A warrant was issued for a blood test and it results are pending.
Aric remains hospitalized with a brain injury and multiple broken bones, his mother has said.
Two of his relatives who also were on the cart, Ben Garret and Brogan Garret, also were injured.
Komoroski, who told cops she downed a shot of tequila and one beer about an hour before the wreck, refused to take a field sobriety test after the crash, according to police documents.