In the early morning hours of a Sunday in January 2011, a violent encounter outside a Sunoco A-Plus gas station and convenience store in Pittsburgh's Larimer neighborhood left one man dead and another seriously wounded. The deceased was identified as 30-year-old Jorman Wright Jr., who was found with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. A second man, who was 20 years old at the time, was also shot in the face but survived his injuries.
The incident shattered the pre-dawn quiet of the crime-plagued area, though no customers or employees at the gas station were harmed.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, police had not made any arrests. However, about a week later, investigators announced a significant development in the case. Two 19-year-old men from East Liberty, Vic Vaughn and Gerald Lee, came forward and admitted to shooting at Wright. They were subsequently charged with firearms violations. Their account of the event introduced a new dimension to the investigation, as they claimed their actions were in self-defense. According to their statement to the police, they were at the convenience store when they were confronted by two armed men, one of whom was Jorman Wright Jr. Vaughn and Lee asserted that they only opened fire after Wright had fired at them.
The investigation into the shooting took another turn when it was revealed that Jorman Wright Jr. was himself a suspect in a homicide that had occurred more than four years earlier. In August 2006, Ronald Jackson, 30, of East Liberty, was found fatally shot outside a sports bar in Lincoln-Lemington. Homicide detectives had learned that Wright and Jackson had apparently been involved in an argument at the bar shortly before Jackson was killed. Although the district attorney's office had declined to file charges against Wright at the time, police considered the 2006 case cleared with Wright's death.
Ultimately, homicide charges were not filed against Vic Vaughn and Gerald Lee in connection with Jorman Wright Jr.'s death. The investigation, which included reviewing store surveillance footage and conducting interviews, was considering the possibility of self-defense. The tragic story of the Wright family did not end there. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Jorman's brother, Terrell Wright, was also shot and killed in Larimer in July 2017. According to his attorney, another brother, Joshua Wright, had held Jorman in his arms as he died on that fateful morning at the gas station.
