The drama surrounding the tragic case of Samantha Miller, a bride who was killed on her April wedding night in South Carolina, sadly is not over.
Back in August, we reported the heartbreaking story of how the young woman was killed in a drunk driving incident just hours after walking down the aisle. 26-year-old Jamie Lee Komoroski is currently awaiting trial next March after allegedly crashing her vehicle into the bride and groom’s golf cart. Samantha and new husband Aric Hutchinson were riding to their hotel suite when Komoroski’s car went off the road and hit the cart. While the bride tragically didn’t make it, Aric, as well as two wedding guests who were escorting the spouses, survived — but were left with serious injuries.
REALLY messed up stuff. You’d think in bonding over the traumatic loss, Aric and Samantha’s family would have become closer than ever. But sadly, that’s not the case.
On Monday, The Post and Courier reported that the late bride’s mother, Lisa Miller, is challenging the validity of her daughter’s marriage! She’s petitioning to remove Aric as a personal representative of Samantha’s estate, citing “issues of potential fraud.”
Oh wow… Oh no…
According to the outlet, Lisa’s attorney has filed, withdrawn, and refiled a motion to take part in Aric’s wrongful death lawsuit against the bars that served Jamie, which he’d previously filed on behalf of his late wife in Charleston County’s Court of Common Pleas.
It’s said the lawsuit is nearing a settlement, and that Aric is more than willing to share the funds. His attorney, Patrick Wooten, told the outlet:
“Aric has been more than generous with Lisa Miller — offering her half of the money — and she has repaid him by threatening to bring a frivolous challenge to the validity of his marriage to Sam.”
He called Lisa’s legal action “morally questionable” and “legally baseless,” as South Carolina law dictates married spouses are entitled to their partner’s assets and estate if said partner dies without a will. And that’s why Lisa is challenging the validity of Aric and Samantha’s marriage.
She told the outlet she feels like she’s been sidelined, as Aric’s offer would require her to not speak about the settlement — and she doesn’t feel that’s right:
“Aric and I agreed several times that Sam would want us to do everything together given we’re the two most important people in her life. I never wanted to challenge the validity of the marriage. I never wanted to dishonor Sam. But I feel like Aric is dishonoring my daughter in going against her wishes.”
Apparently, Aric’s offer came after his legal camp denied Lisa’s team the opportunity to serve as co-counsel in the suit. That was met with the threat of legal action to instate Lisa as the sole representative of Samantha’s estate. Subsequently, Aric’s attorney explained:
“Aric made this settlement offer not because Lisa Miller had a valid legal claim — she does not — but rather because he is a generous person and, of course, would prefer to avoid painful, public litigation over the validity of his marriage to Sam.”
However, Lisa’s attorney, Jerry Meehan, explained in an email to the outlet:
“Our main reason to intervene is to protect the Estate of Samantha Miller and all of its rightful heirs. There is no reason to rush the process and cloak in secrecy if you have nothing to hide. This was a money grab from Minute 1.”
What a heartbreaking situation. This man lost his wife after just minutes of being married. And now the grieving mom wants to take even those minutes away??
We truly hope to see fair justice served and Aric’s relationship with Samantha’s family mended — if that’s even possible at this point.
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