The father of a man shot to death by a Lawrenceville gas station clerk is suing Sunoco and the operator of the business.

Hammad Mahdi, whose son, Davon Walter Smith-Mahdi, was killed on Aug. 2, filed the suit Tuesday in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court against Cheneh A Plus LLC and Sunoco LLC.

The lawsuit includes claims for wrongful death and negligence.

A message left with Sunoco Wednesday was not immediately returned. No one could be reached from Cheneh A Plus.

According to the lawsuit, Smith-Mahdi, 26, was shot and killed in the early morning of Aug. 2 at the APlus Sunoco station in the 5000 block of Butler Street. His brother, Trevon Smiley, was shot in the foot, the lawsuit said.

Randell Tate, 23, of Pittsburgh, who worked as a clerk at the gas station, is charged with criminal homicide and aggravated assault.

According to court documents, Tate was working that morning when Smiley entered around 3:30 a.m.

Smith-Mahdi remained in the car, sleeping, the lawsuit said.

After a period of time, it continued, Smiley went outside, woke his brother, and the two returned to the store.

It was then, the complaint continues, that they got in an argument with Tate.

According to the criminal complaint against Tate, Smiley had arrived at the gas station seeking an apology after he claimed Tate had been spreading stories about him.

Tate said he apologized but Smiley threatened him.

The confrontation was captured on the store’s video cameras, which showed the three men talking and Smiley propping open the glass door to the cashier station.

Smith-Mahdi told his brother they should leave, the lawsuit said, but before they could, Tate “pulled a pistol that he was carrying from his waistband and began firing his weapon at decedent and his brother.”

Smith-Mahdi was struck several times, made it out of the store and crawled into the parking lot. According to the criminal complaint, he was driven to a local hospital where he died.

Tate was charged the same day. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail. A jury trial in the case is scheduled for Aug. 10 before Common Pleas Judge Randal B. Todd.

The lawsuit asserts that Smith-Mahdi had no weapon and never threatened Tate.

The lawsuit accuses the store’s owners of hiring a person with violent tendencies, failing to conduct appropriate background checks, allowing employees to carry weapons, failing to adequately supervise and train them and failing to provide adequate security.

It further claims there had been numerous violent incidents at and near the gas station in the past, including at least one robbery and a shooting.