On August 17, 2008, Mohammad Uddin, a 44-year-old owner of the Central Food Mart in St. Petersburg, Florida, was killed during an armed robbery at his store. Two men, Spencer Peeples and Khadafy Mullens, entered the store intending to rob it; Peeples brandished a gun and demanded money while Mullens shot Uddin after seeing him dialing a telephone. A customer, Ronald Hayworth, was also killed and another customer, Albert Barton, was wounded and survived.

Khadafy Mullens pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Uddin and Hayworth and to attempted first-degree murder for shooting Barton; he was sentenced to death for the murders and to life for the attempted murder. Spencer Peeples was convicted under Florida’s felony murder law and received life without parole, though he did not fire the weapon. High-quality surveillance video that recorded the robbery and shootings was used at trial and featured prominently in the prosecutions.