‘Stand Your Ground' Rejected in Alleged Miami-Dade Revenge Killing

In a court order released Friday, Judge Beth Bloom ruled that physical evidence doesn’t support Janepsy Carballo’s account that she acted in self-defense

A North Miami woman accused of gunning down a man to avenge her husband’s death is headed to trial after a Miami-Dade Circuit judge determined that she isn’t entitled to immunity under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.

In a court order released Friday, Judge Beth Bloom ruled that physical evidence doesn’t support Janepsy Carballo’s account that she acted in self-defense when she shot and killed Ilan Nissim in her home in 2008.

Carballo testified she suspected Nissim to be her husband’s killer and the shooter of her son, the judge wrote.

“The inescapable conclusion is that the defendant lured [Nissim] to the home and killed him,” Bloom wrote in the order.

Carballo Testified She Believed Man She Shot Was Chasing Her

Carballo, 35, wanted her second-degree murder case dismissed before trial under Stand Your Ground, which allows people who feel threatened to use deadly force to defend themselves.

Carballo said she didn’t expect Nissim to visit her home the night of the killing and said his visit turned violent. She said she shot Nissim, a business partner of her husband, because she feared Nissim would harm her and her family.

The shooting happened just a month after her spouse, Orlando Mesa, and the couple's son were shot outside their home on April 20, 2008. Mesa was killed and the young boy was injured but survived.

Mesa's murder never was solved.

Carballo Granted Bond in Alleged Revenge Killing

Prosecutors said Carballo was out to avenge her husband's death, saying she lured Nissim to her home the night she fatally shot him six times, three times in his back, twice in his buttocks and once in his forearm.

Bloom held days of hearings, examined the evidence from all sides and decided Carballo’s statements weren’t factual, according to court documents. “The sequence of events testified to by the defendant is also not supported by the physical evidence,” the judge’s order states.

The judge wrote that six gunshots were “fired into the victim from the back to his front, consistent with the victim retreating from the defendant.”

Nissim’s sister, Yaffit Nissim, considered the judge’s decision a victory.

“I’m happy with the judge’s ruling,” she said. “We just want to move forward with a trial and have justice be served.

Carballo declined to comment.

Though the ruling was a setback for Carballo, prosecutors now face the task of proving their case against Carballo to a jury. At her trial, Carballo will have another opportunity to say she fired in self-defense.

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