Family says police were warned about suspect in USF student killings

A 22-year-old brother of Hisham Abugharbieh said his family had warned police about his erratic behavior before two University of South Florida doctoral students were killed, putting new focus on how earlier alarms were handled. Ahmad Abugharbieh said the family had also called police when Hisham Abugharbieh suddenly showed up at the family home on Friday morning acting strangely.

The family’s account adds another layer to a case already marked by prior legal and police contact. CBS News reported that relatives filed two protective orders against Hisham Abugharbieh, one in 2023 that was granted and another in 2025 that was denied because battery charges were not pursued. Ahmad Abugharbieh said the family believed his older brother should not have been living in shared housing with roommates. “My entire family feels so much shame and guilt,” he said. “I just can't stop thinking about all of them. ... I'm just, I just feel so awful. I'm really sorry about everything. I feel so, my entire family feels so much shame and guilt.”

Hisham Abugharbieh, 26, faces two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon in the deaths of his roommate, Zamil Limon, and another doctoral student, Nahida Bristy, both 27. CBS News reported that Limon and Bristy were last seen in Tampa on April 16, 2026. Limon’s remains were found Friday, April 25, on the Howard Frankland Bridge, and investigators later found human remains on Sunday, April 27, while searching for Bristy. Those remains had not yet been identified in the CBS report.

The case also shows how the response escalated only after multiple warning signs had already surfaced. Police had previously interviewed Hisham Abugharbieh during the disappearance investigation, and the University of South Florida Police Department elevated Limon and Bristy to endangered status on Thursday, April 24, after new information came to light. Abugharbieh was taken into custody after a domestic-violence call at a home in the Lake Forest Community near USF’s Tampa campus, where he came out wearing only a towel and surrendered to deputies.

Along with the murder counts, Abugharbieh faces charges including battery, false imprisonment, tampering with evidence, failure to report a death and unlawfully moving a body. He was being held without bond and was due back in court on Tuesday, April 28. Limon was studying the use of AI in environmental science and was set to present his doctoral thesis that week, while Bristy was studying chemical engineering.