lorida Woman Won’t Face Charges in Fatal Walmart Parking-Lot Shooting After Prosecutors Cite ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law
Prosecutors will not charge Melissa Payne — who gunned down 62-year-old Bart Diguglielmo in a Walmart parking lot in North Lauderdale, Florida, on June 30.Bart DiGuglielmo / Facebook
A confrontation that began over a parking space outside a Florida Walmart and ended with a 62-year-old Army veteran fatally shot will not result in criminal charges against the woman who fired the gun.
The Broward County State Attorney’s Office announced that Melissa Payne is immune from prosecution under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law after reviewing video footage, witness accounts and other evidence from the June 30, 2026 encounter in North Lauderdale.
Bart DiGuglielmo, a retired Army staff sergeant, was shot once during the confrontation and later died at a hospital. Prosecutors concluded they could not overcome Payne’s claim that she reasonably feared she was in danger of great bodily harm when she fired.
Dispute Began Over a Walmart Parking Space
Shocking video shows the moment an Army veteran was gunned down in the parking lot outside a Walmart in Florida.Local 10
The encounter unfolded shortly before 12:30 p.m. outside the Walmart near 7900 West McNab Road.
Payne arrived in a white Chevrolet Malibu with her niece and her niece’s infant daughter, who was Payne’s great-niece. DiGuglielmo was alone in a white Kia SUV.
According to prosecutors’ account, both drivers attempted to claim the same parking space, resulting in what investigators described as a brief stalemate.
Both eventually got out of their vehicles.
DiGuglielmo then left his SUV in a travel lane, retrieved a shopping cart and entered the Walmart. Payne parked the Malibu in the disputed space and remained in the vehicle while her niece went inside.
Approximately 90 seconds later, DiGuglielmo returned.
That is when the encounter escalated.
Multiple witnesses told investigators they heard DiGuglielmo threaten Payne. One recalled him saying he would “mess her car up,” while another reported a more explicit threat to damage her property.
Payne separately told investigators that DiGuglielmo directed a racial slur at her as their dispute unfolded.
DiGuglielmo Drove Away — Then Returned Toward Payne
Payne is immune from prosecution because she acted in self-defense due to the state’s “stand your ground” law.Local 10
After the verbal confrontation, DiGuglielmo drove away at high speed, according to the prosecutors’ memo.
But he did not simply leave.
He parked roughly two aisles away and walked back toward the area where Payne was still sitting in her vehicle with her infant great-niece.
Witnesses described DiGuglielmo as visibly angry. One said he appeared to be shaking while smoking a cigarette and watching Payne.
As he moved toward her car, Payne got out carrying her phone in her left hand and a firearm in her right.
She repeatedly warned him not to approach.
According to the memo, Payne told him not to come near her vehicle and explicitly warned that she would shoot if he continued advancing.
A witness also tried to defuse the situation, telling those involved that it was not worth it.
Video Became Critical Evidence
The confrontation was recorded from multiple angles, including surveillance, cellphone and vehicle-camera footage.
That evidence became central to prosecutors’ decision months later.
According to the state attorney’s account, DiGuglielmo initially moved away but then continued approaching Payne while gesturing with his hands.
Payne told investigators that he challenged her to shoot him.
Footage also showed DiGuglielmo following Payne around another parked vehicle. He then moved toward Payne’s Malibu and made a motion with his keys that prosecutors said appeared consistent with an intention to damage the vehicle.
He subsequently turned back toward Payne.
She fired once, striking him in the abdomen.
DiGuglielmo was transported to a hospital, where he later died.
The medical examiner determined that his cause of death was a gunshot wound and classified the manner of death as homicide. The classification itself does not determine whether criminal charges are legally warranted.
Payne was initially detained but was released after telling investigators she had acted in self-defense.
‘Bae, I Shot. Call the Cops’
Payne had been speaking with her husband by phone during the confrontation.
Immediately after firing, she told him: “Bae, I shot. Call the cops.”
Her infant great-niece remained inside her vehicle during the encounter, according to prosecutors.
The investigation also included toxicology findings from DiGuglielmo’s post-mortem examination. The original report states that amphetamines, Delta-9 THC — the principal psychoactive component of cannabis — and the antidepressant sertraline were detected in his blood.
Those findings formed part of the wider evidence considered as prosecutors reconstructed what happened before the shooting.
Why Prosecutors Declined to Charge Payne
The central issue was whether prosecutors could disprove Payne’s self-defense claim under Florida law.
Stephen J. Zaccor, division chief of the Broward State Attorney’s Office Homicide Trial Unit, explained in the case-closing memo that Florida law does not require a person who is lawfully present to retreat before using force when the legal requirements for self-defense are met.
In this case, prosecutors concluded there was insufficient evidence to overcome Payne’s assertion that she reasonably believed she faced the threat of great bodily harm.
Importantly, prosecutors did not conclude that the video established Payne was unquestionably “in the right.”
Instead, Zaccor wrote that the evidence meant the state could not overcome her claim of reasonable fear by the required legal standard.
“The video does not demonstrate that MP was in the right,” the memo states, but rather that prosecutors could not overcome her claim that she reasonably feared great bodily harm.
Under Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” framework, Zaccor explained, Payne was not legally required to wait until she was physically attacked before responding with deadly force, nor was she required to retreat if her fear was reasonable.
The state attorney’s office therefore concluded that Payne is immune from arrest and prosecution over the shooting.
DiGuglielmo’s Family Disputes the Decision
DiGuglielmo’s family has maintained a sharply different view of what happened.
His daughter, Amanda DiGuglielmo, expressed disappointment after learning prosecutors would not pursue charges.
Melissa Rodriguez, an attorney representing Amanda, said the family does not believe the circumstances justified granting Payne immunity under the “Stand Your Ground” law.
“This was not a situation of self-defense or stand your ground immunity,” Rodriguez previously said, adding that she believed criminal charges should be filed.
Amanda described her father as a devoted family man who spent about 30 years working as an emergency-room trauma nurse.
She said he was a father of three, a grandfather, a twin brother and an Army sergeant. His family has also described him as a decorated veteran who served during Operation Desert Storm.
Asked what she would miss about him, Amanda’s answer was simple: “Everything.”
A Fatal Ending to an Ordinary Parking Dispute
What began as two drivers competing for a single parking space escalated within minutes into threats, warnings, a confrontation captured from several angles and ultimately a fatal shooting.
Months later, those recordings became crucial to the legal outcome.
Prosecutors acknowledged that the footage did not necessarily establish that Payne’s actions were unquestionably justified. Their decision rested on a narrower legal question: whether the state could overcome her assertion that she reasonably feared serious harm.
They concluded it could not.
As a result, Melissa Payne will not face criminal charges for the June 30 shooting of Bart DiGuglielmo — a decision that closes the criminal investigation while leaving DiGuglielmo’s family firmly opposed to the conclusion reached by prosecutors.