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Chester Rite Aid murder trial begins

The security video showed the last moments of Jason Scott McClay's shift as manager at the Rite Aid store at Ninth Street and Highland Avenue in Chester.

The security video showed the last moments of Jason Scott McClay's shift as manager at the Rite Aid store at Ninth Street and Highland Avenue in Chester.

It was just before 10 p.m., and McClay was casually going about his job.

Within minutes, however, the video shows McClay staggering and pulling down shelves after a bullet fired into his neck severed his carotid artery.

Instead of heading home to catch up with the Eagles game on Sept. 19, 2013, McClay collapsed and died in Aisle 14.

On Friday, the Delaware County Court trial of three of the people accused in the killing opened before a jury of eight men and four women and Judge George A. Pagano.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher DiRosato said each of the defendants had a role. Text messages show how they conspired to commit the crime, he said. Video documented the actions of two.

"They planned to commit a robbery, and Mr. McClay is dead," DiRosato said.

McClay, 40, of Broomall, a Navy veteran and graduate of Haverford High School, had previously expressed concern about his safety, his family said. And he was not supposed to work that night. He covered the shift for another manager.

Police arrested five people, all from Philadelphia, in connection with the crime. Defendants David Wiggins, 25, and Rita Pultro, 24, were both on probation at the time of the slaying.

Tariq Mahmud, 24, a Rite Aid loss prevention officer, is accused of helping coordinate the robbery with inside information.

Two other defendants, Christopher Parks, 24, who drove the car from the scene, and Asaniere White, 20, who helped plan the robbery, pleaded guilty earlier. They have not been sentenced and are expected to testify.

"You have three separate trials going on here," said Eugene Timari, attorney for Mahmud. He reminded the jurors that the evidence they will hear may not apply to his client.

A worker on the same shift as McClay told the court that Pultro approached her and asked for a manager's assistance with lightbulbs. Wiggins, she said, was in the store, too.

The worker was at the cash register with another employee and her toddler son when she heard a loud pop.

"Jason screamed, 'Call the police,' " the worker said, sobbing.

The worker said they hit the emergency 911 button and raced to McClay's aid.

Another video showed Wiggins racing toward the exit doors and pushing them with his hands. Pultro, the alleged shooter, was right behind him, holding something dark in her hand. No money was taken.

On the way out of the store, Wiggins and Pultro passed a reward poster on the door. It offered $5,000 for information about two previous robberies and showed an unnamed suspect in two frame grabs from security videos.

The photos were of White.

The trial is scheduled to resume Monday.