Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 4

South Carolina Bartender Charged in 62-Year-Old Woman's Death After Alleged Stair Push

Updated

Updated · Fox News · Oct 4

South Carolina Bartender Charged in 62-Year-Old Woman's Death After Alleged Stair Push

Q: What explosive secret led a judge to suddenly revoke the bartender's bond after the fatal staircase plunge?

There is no confirmed “explosive secret” in the available reporting. What is documented is that Mary Lopez Hunt’s bond was revoked because she violated the conditions of her release. Earlier reports said the reason for the revocation was not immediately clear. But follow-up coverage from WCSC/Gray News states that Hunt “was granted a $100,000 bond but violated its conditions” and was returned to jail. No court filing or news report in the provided material specifies exactly which condition she allegedly broke. So the factual answer is that the judge did not publicly cite some newly revealed secret in the reporting now available. The known trigger was an alleged bond-condition violation after Hunt had initially been released on bond on the voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault charges tied to Joyce Tomlinson’s death. Unless court records are released showing the precise violation, anything more specific would be speculation.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Oct 4

Mary Lopez Hunt, 68, was charged with voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault in the death of Joyce Tomlinson, 62, who was allegedly shoved down stairs outside Coot’s Bar & Grill on Edisto Island.
Witness Ruth Peterson said she saw Hunt run at Tomlinson and push her with both hands as Tomlinson turned to leave, sending her headfirst onto a concrete slab; Hunt told authorities Tomlinson was belligerent and fell.
Authorities found Tomlinson unconscious at the bottom of the stairs on Oct. 3, 2025. She was airlifted to a hospital and died a little more than three weeks later.
Hunt was initially released on $100,000 bond for each charge, but the bond was later revoked and she was returned to the Colleton County Jail; the reason was not immediately clear.
The case has drawn renewed attention just before the one-year mark of Tomlinson’s death, with friends and family still trying to understand how a birthday trip between lifelong friends turned fatal.