Beaufort County man charged with murder after missing wheelchair user found dead
Police have charged a Beaufort County man with killing a 49-year-old wheelchair user whose body was found in the Bluffton area last week — five days after he was reported “missing and endangered.”
Kevin Maurice, 36, of Seabrook, was charged Tuesday with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to jail rosters. He remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center as of Wednesday afternoon.
Maurice is accused in the death of Darren Mulligan, 49, a resident of Seabrook who used a wheelchair. He was first reported missing by a relative Jan. 15, triggering a police search that ended with the discovery of his body Jan. 20 near Pritchardville’s Gibbet Road.
The murder suspect was already in the Beaufort County jail when police served him warrants for the killing. He had been arrested Jan. 11 for possession of cocaine and a number of bench warrants.
Staff at the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office on Monday ruled Mulligan’s death as a homicide, according to Master Sgt. Danny Allen, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office. Allen would not specify a cause of death.
Mulligan’s date and time of death were “still to be determined” as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Allen. The man’s autopsy was delayed due to a rare winter storm that shuttered county facilities for three days.
Maurice was “one of the last people (Mulligan) was around” before his death, according to Allen. Mulligan and Maurice had reportedly been with each other near Gibbet Road, although neither of the men lived in the area, Allen said.
Mulligan’s body was found by Beaufort County deputies in the 80-100 block of Gibbet Road after the missing person investigation led them to the area, Allen said. The route connects S.C. 170 and May River Road in the unincorporated community of Pritchardville.
A spokesperson for the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office deferred all questions to police Wednesday afternoon.
This story was originally published January 29, 2025 at 4:04 PM.
