She told her family that she hopes to be ‘living her best life’ in just a couple of years and, days after her release on bond, drunk driver Jamie Lee Komoroski appeared to be embracing the relative ‘freedom’ of her house arrest.
It is almost a year since Komoroski, 26, three times over the limit after a day of barhopping, ploughed into a golf-cart carrying newlyweds Aric, 37, and Samantha Hutchinson, 34, from their beach wedding ceremony on Folly Beach, South Carolina, April 28, 2023.
The incident, that shocked the nation for its senseless horror, left Samantha dead at the scene and her new groom and two others seriously injured.
Now, exclusive pictures obtained by DailyMail.com show Komoroski, settling into her new home. In an upscale enclave of Charleston, it is a world away from the cell she shared for ten months in Al Canon Detention Center, North Charleston.
On Friday her father Charles escorted his hooded daughter from jail to freedom.
By Monday he was removing packing boxes from the luxury two-bedroom apartment in which, for $1,900 a month, Komoroski will be ‘incarcerated’ until her trial – a date for which has yet to be set.
Notably heavier than the figure who was imprisoned last April, Komoroski could be seen enjoying the apartment’s spacious, screened in balcony on the balmy South Carolina day.
Joined by her mother, Traci, 60, father Charles, 60, and brother, also Charles, 23, Komoroski appeared relaxed and in good spirits as her family members ferried new belongings and every creature comfort she might need into her new pad.
Under the strict conditions of her bond Komoroski cannot leave her apartment for anything other than ‘medical emergencies’ or court appointed dates.
She must wear a GPS and SCRAM ankle bracelet – a device which checks alcohol consumption every thirty minutes by monitoring sweat.
Monday she showed no signs of pushing those boundaries. She looked on from the balcony while her father and brother carried out boxes for everything a girl could possibly want in her new home – such as beds from Wayfair, underbed storage, a TV stand and nightstands.
Her mother carried in the creature comforts – a lavender plant in a white pot, an angle-poise desk lamp, a potted fern.
As the morning went on more and more possessions were carried in and empty bags came out – clothes and linens and bathroom scales, suggesting a determination to get back in shape having gained a significant amount of weight in jail, all went in.
Her Instagram shows Komoroski flaunting her enviable figure in a series of bikini-clad beach photographs taken everywhere from Sullivan Island in South Carolina to Turks and Cacos and a Thanksgiving vacation with her family.
Certainly, the bulkier post jail version of Komoroski appears committed to getting back into pre jail shape as video exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com showed her working out on her balcony, performing a series of exercises including jumping jacks and goblet squats.
Komoroski failed to make bond last August when her attorneys offered a host of reasons why she was no flight risk and suggested that she be released into the care of her mother in New Jersey and undergo rehabilitation for an alcohol problem.
Denying bond at the time the Charleston County judge included the provision that Komoroski would be released on a $150,000 bond if she were still awaiting trial come March 2024 but that she would have to remain in Charleston County.
Komoroski was criticized for her apparent lack of remorse when jail calls between her and her father, sister and boyfriend, Evan Tatro, were released last year by the Charleston County jail.
She fixated on how this was the ‘end of her life’ and the suffering she was experiencing as opposed to the horror of 34-year-old bride, Samantha Hutchinson whose life she had taken and the loved ones who survived her.
DailyMail.com obtained exclusive video footage of Komoroski in her speeding car, following chillingly on after the golf-cart of revelers that April night. Taken from the camera of a resident’s ring doorbell it showed the terrible inevitability of the events that followed just heartbeats after the final moments captured by that camera.
Back then, jail calls showed Komoroski’s father telling his complaining daughter that she might have to ‘suck it up’ and take what punishment was handed down to her.
But on Monday as the family went about the business of moving her into her new home Komoroski seemed more an indulged daughter and in high spirits for a girl facing Felony DUI Resulting in Death; two counts of Felony DUI result in GBI and Reckless Homicide.
If convicted as charge, the count of Felony DUI Resulting in Death alone carries a fine of up to $25,000, and a mandatory one-year prison sentence with a maximum sentence of 25 years on the table. If sentenced to the minimum Komoroski could be out in less than two months given time already served.
Monday, she chatted on her cell phone, delighted no doubt to have access to her devices once more.
She jotted in a journal, seeming to share a joke with her brother about something she had written.
And while her family members took turns exploring the apartment complex in which she lives – its outdoor seating areas, landscaped gardens and gym and swimming pool which she will not be able to use – Komoroski simply stood and looked out from her balcony. At one point she placed a hand flat against the mesh – the limit of her ‘freedom.’
Komoroski’s attorney visited her briefly to bring flowers and an apartment-warming gift. Deborah Gramiccioni stayed for roughly thirty minutes, chatting with Komoroski’s father on the way in.
Komoroski has also been named in a civil suit being brought by Hutchinson’s widower, Aric, who is suing her and the owners of the bars that served her that afternoon and night.
Latest court filings show that the details of any settlement reached will be sealed but suggest that such a settlement may be close with all parties agreeing to take part in mediation.
