After shooting a teenage kid he suspected had stolen bottled water, a gas station owner in South Carolina was found not guilty of murder.
When he shot 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back in 2023 after pursuing him from his convenience store in Columbia, Chikei Rick Chow, 61, said he was protecting his son.
According to the prosecution, Chow and his adult son Andy chased Carmack-Belton out of the Shell gas station because they believed he had stolen something.
Carmack-Belton was seen removing water bottles from a cooler and replacing them in surveillance footage that was used during the trial.
The video then showed Chow’s wife confronting Carmack-Belton. Before leaving the store, the teenager claimed to have nothing in his pocket. Chow and his son then pursued him.
“This case is not about a shoplifter,” Chow’s attorneys contended, adding that he only shot his handgun to protect his son after the teenager pointed a gun at Andy. During closing arguments, defense lawyer Shaun Kent told the jury, “This case is about a father who saw a gun pointed at his son and had to make a decision.”
Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic handgun, according to the prosecution, but it fell to the ground during the pursuit, and he never threatened anyone with it.
After shooting a 14-year-old kid in 2023, Chikei Rick Chow, 61, the proprietor of a gas station in South Carolina, was acquitted of murder.
The teen was seen removing water bottles from a cooler, putting them back in, and then exiting the business in surveillance footage that was played during the trial.
When Chow shot 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after the kid allegedly waved a gun at him, he claimed he was protecting his son.
On Monday, the jury declared Chow not guilty of murder following a five-day trial and eight hours of deliberation.
Jack Swerling, Chow’s other defense lawyer, stated that his client, who had been detained since his detention following the incident three years prior, is now free.
Swerling told WLTX, “We’re not celebrating the fact that this young man got killed.”
“Nobody wants to kill anyone, but you have to protect your wife, your children, and yourself.” Self-defense or defense of others is the oldest legal principle in existence.
“If he didn’t have that weapon, he never would have had a weapon to draw on Andy Chow,” Swerling said during the trial, questioning why the teenager was carrying a pistol with a laser sight on Columbia’s streets.
He would never have possessed a firearm to endanger Andy Chow. Additionally, he would never have had a firearm that would have made Mr. Chow think his son was about to be shot and forced him to make a snap decision about whether or not to fire that pistol in order to save his son.
Chow then gave Carmack-Belton CPR, which, according to Swerling, helps demonstrate that Chow acted without intent, which is a necessary component of a murder accusation in South Carolina.
Chow’s attorneys contended that he merely used his handgun to protect his kid when the teenager aimed a gun at Andy.
Richland County, where almost half of the population is Black, was incensed by Carmack-Belton’s passing.
Protesters destroyed and broke into Chow’s business, taking beer and cigarettes, and accused him of mistreating black customers.
The Carmack-Belton family is unhappy with the decision and intends to sue Chow in civil court, according to attorney Todd Rutherford.
Jurors were informed by Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, the prosecutor, that Chow “chased a kid down, shot him in the back.”
“Nobody testified that happened that doesn’t have the last name Chow,” Gipson said, citing other witnesses who stated they didn’t see anything in Carmack-Belton’s hands or saw him pointing a gun as he fled the store.
The Carmack-Belton family is unhappy with the decision and intends to sue Chow in civil court, according to attorney Todd Rutherford.
“I’ve been practicing law for almost 30 years, and there is no way that that jury can justify that verdict for a child who did nothing wrong and was shot in the back,” Rutherford stated. This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I don’t comprehend it.
In Richland County, where over half of the population is Black, Carmack-Belton’s passing caused indignation.
According to police, protesters trashed and broke into Chow’s business, taking beer and cigarettes, and accused him of mistreating black customers.
Chow shot shoplifters twice in the previous eight years, according to police records, but he was not charged because investigators claimed he acted in self-defense.
