Suspect in fatal Bluffton stabbing faces more charges related to ‘separate victim’
Police have filed two additional charges against a 21-year-old accused of fatally stabbing his mother at their Bluffton apartment complex last week.
Bluffton resident Bryan Stacey Palacios was charged Monday with attempted murder and a second felony weapons charge, Beaufort County court records show.
The new charges correspond to an alleged assault on a “separate victim,” Palacios’ brother, at the Vista View Apartments on June 16 around 2 p.m., the same time as the homicide, according to Lt. Daniel Allen, a spokesperson for the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Palacios’ mother, 50-year-old Elisa Palacios, was pronounced dead at Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center about an hour after the attack from multiple stab wounds, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office previously said.
Bryan Palacios’ arrest warrants claim he “intentionally” stabbed his mother in the neck while inside the family’s apartment, “ultimately causing her death.” After being detained, Palacios allegedly admitted to stabbing Elisa about three times in the area of her shoulders and head, “stating God told him to do it,” the warrants say.
Inmate records show Bryan Palacios was booked into jail June 17 just after 3 p.m. following his discharge from the hospital. Police did not specify the extent of his injuries but said he was also hurt during the domestic incident.
Bryan Palacios remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center as of Monday afternoon, according to a jail roster. Because his murder charge carries the possibility of a life sentence, South Carolina law requires his bond to be set by a circuit court judge; court records showed a bond hearing had not yet occurred.
One witness who spoke with The Island Packet said he was the one to dial 911 as neighbors became aware of the hectic scene. The stabbing happened at the crux of a verbal altercation inside the Palacios’ second-floor apartment in Building F, a group of three neighbors told a reporter, before Elisa fled the unit and tumbled down the stairs. 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.
The Vista View Apartments are located at 39 Haigler Blvd. off May River Road, just outside of Bluffton town limits. The complex is about a mile away from Old Town Bluffton.
