Groom sues drunk driver who killed new wife as she left wedding reception

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A man whose bride was killed by a drunk driver in a crash right after their wedding reception, has now sued the vehicle driver.

Samantha Miller, 34, was killed on 28 April following her wedding at Folly Beach, South Carolina.

The bride and the groom were leaving the wedding reception when Hutchinson was hit by the driver – identified as 25-year-old Jamie Lee Komoroski.

The grieving husband, Aric Hutchinson, has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages from the driver and the bars that served her.

It was reported that Ms Komoroski was three times over the limit when she smashed into the golf buggy carrying the bride and her new husband.

The bride was killed on the spot while the groom received serious injuries.

Police said that Ms Komoroski has been charged with DUI involving death and reckless homicide.

Mr Hutchinson, in his lawsuit filed on Wednesday in Charleston, alleged that the driver “bar hopped” before getting inside the vehicle.

He is also filing a lawsuit against the five bars that Ms Komoroski is accused of visiting before getting into her vehicle. The lawsuit claimed that the bars served Ms Komoroski alcohol even though she was visibly drunk.

The lawsuit further stated that Ms Komoroski was a new employee of Taco Boy. Her supervisor is also accused in the suit of “organising, arranging, and supervising an employee function knowing that excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages would be purchased for, served to, and consumed by the employees attending the function”.

Danny Dalton, representing Mr Hutchinson, said: “The state grants restaurants and bars a license for the privilege to serve alcohol, and with that privilege comes a responsibility to the community to serve patrons responsibly and to deny service to individuals who are visibly intoxicated.”

He argued that the bars where she drank have “a duty of care not to allow patrons to become intoxicated, to not serve alcohol to intoxicated persons”.

Ms Komoroski was allegedly going 65mph in a 25mph zone and her blood alcohol content was 0.261 – more than three times the permissible limit.