A South Carolina jury found a store owner not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of a 14-year-old Black teenager. The incident involved Chikei Rick Chow, 61, who shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia. Chow, of Asian descent, claimed he acted in defense of his son.
The verdict brought anguish to the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the residents are Black. As the decision was announced, Carmack-Belton’s family expressed their distress while Chow remained silent, eventually lowering his head.
During closing arguments, prosecutors and defense attorneys offered differing accounts of the events. Prosecutors alleged Chow acted out of anger, mistakenly believing the teen had stolen four bottles of water. They noted that Carmack-Belton possessed a semiautomatic pistol that fell during the chase but asserted he never used it to threaten anyone.
The defense argued that Chow fired only after the teen drew a gun on his son, Andy Chow, claiming Andy testified to this effect. Prosecutors countered by pointing out that the gun was not seen in the teenager’s hands during his flight from the store.
The Richland County Coroner, Nadia Rutherford, reported no signs of conflict between Chow and Carmack-Belton in the store. She confirmed the teenager died from a gunshot wound to his lower back.
The shooting led to vigils and protests, with demonstrators arranging empty water bottles to spell ‘Cyrus’ during a 2023 vigil. The case drew attention due to Chow’s past actions. Previously, he shot a shoplifter and fired at another in separate self-defense instances at his Xpress Mart Shell station.
Between 2018 and 2023, authorities responded to numerous calls for assistance at Chow’s store, involving incidents like assault, theft, and vandalism.