A Florida Walmart worker allegedly called armed friends to the store after becoming convinced a shopper had threatened him, setting off a chain of events that ended with a 23-year-old customer dead and an elderly bystander wounded, according to a lawsuit filed by the victim’s family.
The family of Nathaniel Baez is suing Walmart and former employee Roberto Acevedo over the deadly July 2023 shooting at a Florida City superstore.
According to a recent court filing from the family’s attorney, Todd Michaels, Acevedo believed Baez and his friends were going to “jump” him after a tense encounter inside the store.
Acevedo, who was 20 at the time, was working as a digital shopper, an employee who fills online orders by walking through the store and collecting merchandise.
The filing says Baez entered the store on July 19, 2023, with several friends and a small child.
At some point, the group encountered Acevedo while he was working with a large shopping cart.
According to the lawsuit, Acevedo had allegedly left the cart blocking part of an aisle, forcing customers to squeeze around it.
As Baez and his friends passed between the cart and a freezer, Acevedo claimed one member of the group glared at him and muttered something that included an expletive.
That brief exchange allegedly convinced Acevedo that the group was preparing to attack him.
Instead of reporting the incident to a manager, the lawsuit says Acevedo went to the back of the store, grabbed his phone and began contacting people he knew.
He first allegedly called his sister and told her he believed he was in danger.
He then called his brother and later his brother’s girlfriend, who was with two of Acevedo’s friends, Steve Lestin and Ji’mari Hodge.
According to the filing, Lestin was known to regularly carry a gun, while Hodge had previously been arrested on a firearm-related charge.
Michaels said the entire shooting could have been avoided if Acevedo had simply followed Walmart procedure.
“He got it in his head that these people are going to jump me and instead of doing the one thing he was required to do which is call your manager, he decided to call his armed friends to find out what this guy said or why he looked at him,” Michaels told WPLG.
The lawsuit claims Walmart employees are expected to immediately report threats, violence or suspicious activity to a salaried manager or, if necessary, police.
According to the family, managers could have kept Acevedo in a back area while monitoring Baez and his friends until they left the store.
Instead, the filing alleges that Acevedo “summoned” Lestin and Hodge, dramatically increasing the possibility that the confrontation would turn violent.
When Lestin and Hodge arrived, they allegedly joined Acevedo and went looking for Baez’s group.
According to the filing, one of Baez’s friends was holding the small child when the men approached.
The friend reportedly handed the child to someone else as the confrontation began.
Words were exchanged, followed by punches.
Then, according to the lawsuit, Lestin pulled out a gun and opened fire near the store’s checkout area.
Baez was fatally shot.
An elderly man standing nearby with his wife was also struck by gunfire and wounded.
The lawsuit argues that none of it would have happened if Acevedo had followed store policy.
“This entire incident would have been avoided had Acevedo, on the clock and working for Walmart simply followed his training and duty, and notified management,” the filing says.
“Instead, his actions led to a murder of an innocent customer.”
The Baez family also alleges that Walmart should be held responsible because Acevedo was working at the time and the company had a duty to keep shoppers reasonably safe.
According to the lawsuit, Acevedo allegedly had a violent and “checkered” past before Walmart hired him.
The filing also claims he had reported another altercation inside the store in the days before Baez was killed.
Baez’s mother, Betsabe Santos, said the shooting devastated her family.
“You destroyed a family,” she told WPLG.
Acevedo has been charged with battery in connection with the incident.
Lestin is facing second-degree murder and attempted murder charges, while Hodge is also charged with battery.
Walmart has not publicly responded to the latest lawsuit.
Following the 2023 shooting, the company said it was saddened by what happened and that its thoughts were with the victim’s loved ones.
Walmart also said at the time that one employee had been suspended and that the company would continue cooperating with law enforcement.
The lawsuit now seeks to hold the retail giant accountable for a confrontation that the Baez family says started with little more than a perceived glare and ended in deadly gunfire.
Spiks always blame everyone else for being stupid. Its Walmart’s fault how? Why dont you sue the mother who gave birth to this POS instead of aborting him!!! How is Walmart supposed to control a loser who isn’t smart enough to follow procedures?
Sue themall