Woman who shot man dead in row over parking space won’t face charges
Story by Noora Mykkanen
A woman shot a man dead in self defense after an argument about a parking space, officials have ruled. Melissa Payne fired her gun at army veteran Bart DiGuglielmo, 62, outside a branch of Walmart in North Lauderdale, Florida.
The pair both wanted the same parking spot outside the store, leading to a ‘brief stalemate’, according to Broward County State Attorney’s Office.
Footage from multiple cameras shows Bart ditching his car in the middle of the road before he walks off with a trolley towards the store on June 30.
Other customers heard him say he was going to ‘mess her car up’. He then went back outside and walked towards Payne’s car, which she had parked in the spot they were arguing over, and appeared ‘visibly angry’ while looking at her.
While on the phone to her husband, she pointed her gun at Bart, who was unarmed while shouting: ‘If you keep coming up to me, I’m going to f***ing shoot you.’.
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PIC CAPTION: The argument began over a parking spot at the North Lauderdale Walmart, resulting in Payne pulling out her gun (Picture: Broward County State Attorney’s Office)
She then shot one round at his abdomen and he later died from his injuries.
Prosecutors concluded Payne was lawfully carrying a firearm and was entitled to use deadly force under Florida’s stand your ground law because investigators could not disprove that she reasonably feared death or serious bodily harm.
Stephen Zaccor, division chief of the Broward County State Attorney’s homicide trial unit, wrote: ‘The facts surrounding the homicide of Bart DiGuglielmo are as tragic as they are absurd.’
He added that Payne ‘did not have to wait to be attacked before resorting to deadly force’ and had no duty to retreat if her fear was reasonable.
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PIC CAPTION: The tense exchange was captured on several cameras, including a nearby Tesla (Picture: Broward County State Attorney’s Office)
Because she has no prior convictions, he said, she was allowed to own a gun and was doing nothing unlawful.
He added: ‘There is relatively no dispute about what actually happened because the entire incident was captured by various video recording devices.’
He concluded that Payne ‘had the right to stand her ground if she was in reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm’. ‘She did not have to retreat as long as her fear was reasonable and no evidence has been presented to disprove that.’
Link:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/woman-who-shot-man-dead-in-row-over-parking-space-won-t-face-charges/ar-AA2bxxfM?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=6a9adea0cc3f496fb8b39f3ee89b604a&ei=12