Ruth Peterson has spoken out ahead of the one-year anniversary of her best friend’s death, describing the moment she watched Joyce Tomlinson get shoved down a flight of stairs outside a South Carolina beach bar.
Peterson, who had been friends with Tomlinson for 50 years, recounted the fatal confrontation in an interview on Oct. 1, just two days before the anniversary of the Oct. 3 incident at Coot’s Bar & Grill on Edisto Island. The two Minnesota women had finally managed to coordinate a joint birthday celebration after years of planning, having first discussed the trip when they both turned 60.
The pair had spent the evening at the beachside bar on employee recommendation after checking into their rented condo in Edisto Beach. They sat at the bar, each had two drinks, and stood up to dance when a solo performer began playing music. When the crowd grew, they decided to head back to their condo to continue catching up.
Peterson went to retrieve their car while Tomlinson, 62, stayed behind to settle the tab. Peterson walked down the same stairs they had climbed to enter, then turned to check how far behind her friend was.
“I left the bar and walked down the steps, the same steps that we came up [to go] in. I turned around to see how far behind me she was … and that’s when I saw her standing at the top of the steps,” Peterson said.
At that moment, Peterson saw Tomlinson exchange brief words with another woman behind her. She could not hear what was said.
“Next thing I know, Joyce had turned around to head back down [the stairs], and this woman runs at her, and with both hands just pushes her, and she just sailed,” Peterson said, stifling tears.
“She didn’t fall down the steps. She didn’t roll down the steps…She didn’t touch the steps.”
“She went head first and landed on this concrete slab.”
Peterson rushed to her friend and could not find a pulse. Tomlinson began bleeding from her mouth and ears. She was flown to a hospital by helicopter and died a little more than three weeks later.
Mary Lopez Hunt, 68, was charged with voluntary manslaughter and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to Colleton County court records. Hunt told authorities that Tomlinson was belligerent and yelled at bartenders before being asked to leave, and she alleged that Tomlinson fell down the stairs. Authorities arrived to find Tomlinson lying on the pavement at the bottom of the stairs, according to a heavily redacted report.
Hunt was initially released on $100,000 bond for each charge. Her bond was later revoked and she was returned to custody at the Colleton County Jail in Walterboro, South Carolina. The reason for the revocation was not immediately clear.
Peterson described Tomlinson as an “itty-bitty, tiny” woman with a “meek and mild” personality. She said she cannot believe the legal aide, who spent her career helping people resolve financial issues, would have started a fight.
The two women met as young girls in Minnesota, bonding over roller skating. Their children grew up playing together as they started families of their own. Though they eventually moved away from each other, they remained close. For years they had talked about meeting to celebrate their birthdays together, but “life got in the way,” Peterson said, until Tomlinson called in 2025 to say she was coming in October.
At Tomlinson’s funeral, friends and family remembered her as “a loving mom” and “a trustworthy friend,” Peterson wrote in a eulogy she read. Tomlinson was not married and left behind a son.
“It’s just been very surreal,” Peterson said. “It’s very hard to believe that she’s gone and that somebody would do that to another person.”
Tomlinson’s friends and family are still trying to understand how the confrontation turned violent so quickly, Peterson said. They never spoke again after Peterson left to get the car.
Peterson’s attorney could not be reached for comment, and Coot’s Bar & Grill did not respond to a request for comment.
Hunt remains in custody at the Colleton County Jail in Walterboro, South Carolina.