*Melissa Payne, the Black Florida woman who fatally shot a White man during a confrontation that began over a Walmart parking space, will not face criminal charges after prosecutors determined she is protected by Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
The decision, announced Sept. 3 by the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, resolves a case EURweb first reported in July, when Payne had not been publicly identified and investigators were still examining her claim that she acted in self-defense.
Bart DiGuglielmo, 62, was shot June 30 in the parking lot of a Walmart in North Lauderdale. What initially appeared to be a deadly dispute over a parking space was captured from several angles, including cellphone and Tesla video.
According to the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, prosecutors concluded that Florida law makes Payne immune from prosecution.
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Parking Dispute Escalates into Fatal Confrontation
The confrontation began when Payne and DiGuglielmo attempted to park in the same space, resulting in what prosecutors described as a “brief stalemate.”
Payne was traveling with her niece and her niece’s baby.
DiGuglielmo eventually left his vehicle in a travel lane and went inside Walmart before returning about 90 seconds later. Multiple witnesses told investigators they heard him threaten to damage Payne’s vehicle.
He then drove away at a high rate of speed, parked elsewhere and walked back toward Payne’s vehicle, according to the prosecution memo.
One witness described DiGuglielmo as “visibly angry.”
Payne exited her vehicle with a phone in her left hand and a firearm in her right. Witnesses said she repeatedly warned DiGuglielmo not to approach.
“If you keep coming up to me, I’m going to ——- shoot you!” one witness recalled Payne saying, according to ABC News.
Prosecutors said video shows DiGuglielmo continuing to “aggressively approach” Payne as she backed away. At one point he turned away, but then approached her again.
Payne fired once, striking him in the abdomen. DiGuglielmo later died.
Payne Says Racial Slur Was Used
Payne also told investigators that DiGuglielmo called her the N-word during the initial confrontation, according to the prosecution memo cited in published reports.
That allegation is part of Payne’s account of the encounter and was not presented by prosecutors as the legal basis for their decision.
Payne was on the phone with her husband when the shooting occurred. After firing, she told him, “Bae, I shot. Call the cops,” according to the memo.
She remained at the scene and was briefly detained. Prosecutors said her account of what happened was consistent with the available video evidence.
Why Prosecutors Say Stand Your Ground Applies
Homicide Trial Unit Division Chief Stephen Zaccor determined that Payne was legally in the Walmart parking lot, was not a convicted felon and was legally permitted to possess a firearm.
Under Florida law, a person who reasonably believes deadly force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm does not have a duty to retreat when legally present at the location.
The distinction in prosecutors’ conclusion is important.
“The video does not demonstrate that MP was in the right,” Zaccor wrote. Instead, he said the evidence demonstrates that the state cannot overcome Payne’s claim that she reasonably feared great bodily harm.
Because Florida is a Stand Your Ground state, prosecutors said Payne “did not have to wait to be attacked before resorting to deadly force.”
She also was not required to retreat as long as her fear was reasonable.
The state concluded that the available evidence could not establish otherwise, meaning Payne is immune from criminal prosecution.
The ruling brings a legal conclusion to a confrontation that began with two drivers wanting the same Walmart parking space and ended with one of them dead.
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