Surveillance video released catches clerk's death

Mohammad Nasir Uddin had just upgraded the video surveillance system at his convenience store, in all likelihood to enhance the security there in the event he was robbed.

Instead, the multi-camera system captured his death, and that of a customer.

DVD copies of the moments leading up to the Aug. 17, 2008 shooting of the 44-year-old husband and father - and the transient, Ronald Hayworth, 50 -- were released recently by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office.

Even in an age where law enforcement agencies routinely release videos in who-dun-it cases, the series of 12-minute videos, with each capturing Uddin's last actions from a different angle, provide a particularly chilling glimpse into the often-dangerous life of a convenience store owner.

Oddly enough, investigators say, the surveillance videos were not the crucial clue leading to the eventual apprehension of the two men said to have robbed and killed Uddin, along Hayworth, who walked in after the robbery commenced.

Someone outside the store recognized one of the suspects before the crime was consummated, and later provided his name to detectives, said Maj. Mike Puetz.

"It makes a pretty powerful statement," Puetz said, "but at least in this case it wasn't the linchpin in apprehending these guys."

Spencer Peeples, 27, and Khadafy Mullens, 24, both of St. Petersburg, are being held at the Pinellas County Jail on a variety of charges, including two counts each of first-degree murder. They are being held without bail.

Uddin, who had owned the Central Food Mart at 2157 Central Ave. for roughly eight years, is standing at the counter near the door when in walks in the two suspects, the videos show.

One, identified by police as Peeples, is wearing a do-rag wrapped around his head. The other, identified by police as Mullens, is wearing a tank-top.

Peeples gets himself something to drink before he approaches the counter and the robbery commences, the videos show. Mullens is rubbing his hands together at the front door, and almost appears startled when Peeples initiates the crime. Hayworth walks in as the robbery gets under way, and seems not to realize what is occurring right away.

At first, Peeples and Mullens are going back and forth to the front door, and it appears they are trying to lock it from the inside. They hand their sole handgun back and forth to each other, stuff lottery tickets into a bag, and repeatedly ask Uddin for a set of keys.

Uddin twice is forced onto the floor before he is shot - once behind the counter, a second time in front of the door. A gun is waved in his face repeatedly. At one point, it appears Hayworth is trying to get to the door without being noticed, but he is told to stay put.

Words are exchanged between the suspects and Uddin for more than eight minutes when Peeples leaves, the video shows. Then Uddin reaches for a phone to call for help, and Mullens sees him, and points the gun at him.

Uddin immediately starts trying to shield his face, making a high-pitched sound that is part scream, part inchoate cry for mercy. Mullens keeps on trying to get the handgun over Uddin's hands before he finally shoots him. Uddin slumps to the floor behind the counter, the videos show. He died at a hospital the following day.

Mullens then turns to Hayworth, quickly pulls him to the floor and shoots him once, almost at point-blank range, the videos show. Hayworth died two days later.

A third man - customer Albert Barton - was entering the store as Mullens was leaving, and Mullens appears to pull him into the store to shoot him, the videos show. Barton fought back, and was shot, but he survived, police have said.

One of the last images on the videos is of Barton stumbling out of the store waving a piece of cloth to draw the attention of arriving paramedics.

At one point, St. Petersburg police have said, the robbers asked Uddin about a video surveillance recorder. He showed them one, and they deactivated it, police said. Uddin didn't tell them about his other system, which captured the entire crime.