Woman who shot vet in Florida Walmart parking lot won’t face charges under ‘stand your ground’ laws

Bart Diguglielmo, a 62-year-old retired veteran, was shot by Melissa Payne in North Lauderdale just before 12:30 pm on June 30 earlier this year. Payne will not be prosecuted because she acted in self-defense under the state's "stand your ground" law, according to the Broward County state attorney’s office.

A witness to the shooting said that Diguglielmo threatened Payne before she shot, telling her, "I’m gonna f*ck your sh*t up." Payne told officers in a statement recorded on body cameras that he had called her the N-word at the beginning of the confrontation.

“Florida is a Stand Your Ground State,” prosecutor Stephen J. Zaccor said, per the New York Post. “MP (Melissa Payne) did not have to wait to be attacked before resorting to deadly force. She did not have to retreat as long as her fear was reasonable and no evidence has been presented to disprove that.”

Payne had an infant great-niece in the car during the incident, authorities said. Diguglielmo was found to have amphetamines, Delta 9 THC, and the SSRI antidepressant drug in his blood after he died. Payne had been detained for a brief period of time before she was released after she said the shooting was in self-defense.

The incident unraveled over a parking spot dispute, where both had attempted to park in the same spot, resulting in both of them exiting their cars to confront each other.

Diguglielmo exited his car and went into Walmart for a minute and a half before coming back out to confront Payne while she had parked her car and stayed in it. He returned to his car after arguing with Payne, went to park it, then came back to confront her again.

Payne exited her vehicle with her phone and her gun. She yelled, “It’s not worth it!” and “If you keep coming up to me, I’m going to f*cking shoot you!” a bystander recounted. Diguglielmo followed her around a car as she held up the gun and then appeared as though he was going to approach her vehicle. He then turned and approached Payne, when she then fired, striking him in the abdomen.

He was rushed to the hospital, but died of his injuries. “The video does not demonstrate that MP 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.