Bluffton neighbors recount details surrounding Tuesday stabbing

The day after 21-year-old Bryan Palacios allegedly stabbed and killed his mother at their Bluffton apartment complex, neighbors said this wasn’t the first time they’d heard of discord within the family.

Gathered outside Building F of the Vista View Apartments, where Palacios allegedly stabbed and killed his mother Elisa about 24 hours earlier, a group of neighbors spoke to a reporter about the hectic scene Tuesday afternoon and their knowledge of Bryan Palacios’ past.

Bryan Palacios is accused of murdering his mother, 50, around 2 p.m. on Tuesday. He was booked at the Beaufort County Detention Center at 3:19 p.m. on Wednesday after being discharged from the hospital. Police did not specify the extent of Bryan Palacios’ injuries, but said he was also hurt during the domestic incident.

The Island Packet spoke with two men, Josh and Ricky, who asked to be identified only by their first names, and a woman who declined to share her name. They said they live within walking distance of the crime scene at Building F, one of about 10 two-story apartment buildings in the complex off May River Road.

The man’s neighbors said law enforcement would often respond to the Palacios’ apartment. They recalled several of Bryan’s past actions, like loud disagreements with family members and one instance where he was seen standing in the roadway of the complex, “looking at the sky” for an extended period.

The stabbing happened at the crux of a verbal altercation inside the Palacios’ second-floor apartment in Building F, the neighbors said, before Elisa fled the unit and tumbled down the stairs. The group said she had stab wounds to her neck and head. Ricky told The Island Packet he was the one to dial 911. Although blood blanketed the concrete outside Building F, the neighbors said, they thought Elisa Palacios might make it. Shortly after she was rushed to the hospital, fire crews were seen using hoses and brooms to clean the pavement at the base of the stairs.

Beaufort County judicial records show Bryan Palacios had faced three criminal charges from county deputies and Bluffton police in the last four years: indecent exposure, resisting arrest and trespassing. The first charge was pleaded down to public disorderly conduct in August 2025, while his charge of resisting arrest was dismissed in early 2023, about three months after the case was opened.

This story was originally published June 18, 2026 at 10:20 AM.