Florida Woman Not Charged in Walmart Parking Shooting Under Stand Your Ground Law

Florida woman won’t face charges in Walmart parking shooting under Stand Your Ground law/Image: Getty Images

A Florida woman who fatally shot a 62-year-old Army veteran during a dispute over a Walmart parking space will not be charged after prosecutors determined she was protected by the state’s Stand Your Ground law. Melissa Payne shot Bart Diguglielmo in the abdomen during the June 30 confrontation in North Lauderdale, according to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office. Diguglielmo was unarmed. Prosecutors said they reviewed security footage, cellphone video and police body-camera recordings before concluding that Payne’s use of deadly force could not be disproved as self-defence under Florida law. According to the State Attorney’s Office, video showed Diguglielmo repeatedly approaching Payne and circling her vehicle during the argument. The dispute began after both claimed the same parking space. Under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, a person does not have to retreat before using deadly force if they reasonably believe they face an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, according to the state statute. A 2017 amendment requires prosecutors to establish by “clear and convincing evidence” that the use of force was not legally justified. Assistant State Attorney Stephen Zaccor said prosecutors could not meet that standard in Payne’s case. “The video does not demonstrate that [Payne] was in the right, rather it demonstrates that the State of Florida cannot overcome her claim that she was in reasonable fear of great bodily harm by clear and convincing evidence,” Zaccor wrote in a case-closing memo. Payne told police that Diguglielmo had threatened to damage her vehicle and continued approaching her despite being told to back away, according to audio recorded by an officer’s body camera. “He’s made several threats about doing something to my vehicle,” Payne said, according to the recording. She also said she had driven around the parking lot and repeatedly asked Diguglielmo to back up before firing. Payne was arrested after the shooting, placed in handcuffs and later released, according to the case records. The decision has drawn criticism from Diguglielmo’s family. Melissa Rodriguez, an attorney representing his daughter, Amanda, told NBC 6 South Florida that the family was disappointed Payne would not face charges. Rodriguez said references to possible damage to a vehicle or other property did not establish reasonable grounds for using deadly force.