Records reveal troubled past of Bluffton man accused of fatally stabbing his mother
Police records dating back to 2022 indicate the 21-year-old Bluffton man accused of fatally stabbing his mother has had a troubled past involving drugs, run-ins with police and mental health issues — and that his mother had tried to seek treatment for him.
Bryan Stacey Palacios, who is charged with using a large kitchen knife to murder his mother, 50-year-old Elisa Palacios, and attempting to kill his brother inside the family’s apartment, was the subject of at least six other calls to law enforcement in the four years preceding the fatal June 16 stabbing, according to a review of police reports.
Bryan Palacios’ encounters with police included several instances of purported drug use, a violent clash with officers as he allegedly resisted arrest, multiple trespassing calls and one August 2024 incident when he was arrested for running naked around his apartment complex and masturbating. His resulting charge of indecent exposure was downgraded to public disorderly conduct when he pleaded guilty about a year later. He received no prison time, Beaufort County court records show.
Also in 2024, Elisa Palacios mother called police to the Vista View Apartments because Bryan Palacios was inside the family’s unit after previous bond conditions had barred him from being near his mother or entering the home, an incident report says. Officers did not charge Bryan Palacios with violating his bond after learning his mother had invited him to stay at the apartment, according to the report. Elisa explained she felt bad for her then 19-year-old son because he was “not in good shape,” an officer noted.
It was after that encounter that Elisa Palacios reached out to police “requesting assistance” for her son’s mental health and drug issues, the report says. A deputy reportedly contacted the sheriff’s “embedded clinician” from the South Carolina Department of Mental Health to plan a consultation for Bryan Palacios, but it was unclear if Elisa Palacios was successful in getting her son treatment.
A records request from the Beaufort County Clerk of Court’s office did not yield any bond forms ordering Bryan Palacios to stay away from his mother, and it was unclear what criminal case the requirement was connected to. The sheriff’s report noted Elisa Palacios was the victim in the incident, but any mentions of the relevant case number have been redacted.
What happened in the fatal stabbing?
The fatal stabbing occurred in the early afternoon of June 16 inside the family’s unit at the Vista View Apartments, located about a mile from Old Town Bluffton. Bryan Palacios allegedly stabbed his mother three times in the area of her head and shoulders before turning on his brother, who blocked one knife swing and was missed by the second one, according to arrest warrants.
Witnesses described Elisa Palacios fleeing the second-floor apartment and tumbling down the stairs, remaining outside the building until she was rushed to Novant Health Hilton Head Medical Center. She was pronounced dead about an hour after the attack, officials previously said.
After being detained, Bryan Palacios allegedly admitted to stabbing his mother and said “God told him to do it,” his warrants claim.
Bryan Palacios remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center as of Friday evening. A jail employee told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette he had been denied bond.
Suspect had violent clash with police in 2024
Police records show Bryan Palacios’ first arrest was in late 2022, about a month after he turned 18.
Security at Port Royal Plantation called deputies on Nov. 27, 2022, around 8 a.m. to report Palacios had been asleep in the beach club’s public restroom. After being awoken, Palacios left the restroom and lay in the nearby sand dunes, according to an incident report.
When deputies arrived, Palacios allegedly told them he had taken a tab of acid. He repeatedly resisted police’s attempts to detain him, prompting a violent clash as police struggled to get him off the dunes and in handcuffs, according to the incident report. During their effort to put Palacios in a patrol car, deputies tased Palacios, called for backup units and utilized use-of-force tactics like knee and forearm strikes on the teenager, the report says.
Eventually constrained with several pairs of handcuffs and leg shackles, Palacios was taken to jail on a charge of resisting arrest, police noted in the report. Court records show the charge was dismissed about four months later.
Trespassed from multiple places
Palacios was trespassed from Port Royal Plantation and, less than a year later, from a Planet Fitness on Hilton Head Island. His ex-girlfriend told police he showed up at the gym in August 2023 and “(would) not leave her alone” following his existing pattern of harassment toward her, according to another incident report.
Over the next year, police noted several other encounters with Palacios where he appeared drowsy and under the influence of drugs.
A Bluffton Police Department incident report from April 2024 describes officers responding to Bluffton Parkway, where Palacios had allegedly been walking in the middle of the road and was nearly hit by several vehicles. Palacios was “extremely lethargic,” the report says, and police confiscated suspected marijuana that was allegedly found in his pockets. Officers did not charge him and instead gave him a courtesy ride to his mother.
Convicted after indecent exposure incident
As of June 2026, Palacios’ only criminal convictions were for trespassing and public disorderly conduct, both misdemeanors. Neither resulted in prison time, according to Beaufort County court records.
The disorderly conduct conviction stems from Palacios running naked and masturbating outside his home at the Vista View Apartments in August 2024, according to an incident report and arrest warrant. Judicial records show he pleaded guilty to the charge about a year later.
Neighbors at the time described seeing Palacios wearing nothing but a COVID mask as he meandered through the complex’s parking lot and banged on residents’ doors, the police report says.
Police later knocked on Palacios’ door, and he emerged wearing clothes, according to the report. After some hesitation, Palacios reportedly told officers he had been nude because “he was running in the woods and the sticks grabbed his clothing and ripped them off.”
“During the course of the interview, Mr. Palacios appeared to be on some type of drug that was altering his mental capacity,” an officer wrote in the report. “He could not focus on the questions being asked and oftentimes would take a few seconds to answer. Other times, when he did answer, his statements would not make sense or were wrong. His eyes were bloodshot and his gaze was distant, oftentimes staring into space.” C
The August 2024 incident appeared to be the last time Palacios was named in a police report until June 2026, when 20 officers responded to his family’s apartment following the fatal stabbing.
