A South Carolina gas station owner has been acquitted of murder after shooting a teenage boy he mistakenly thought had stolen bottled water. Chikei Rick Chow, 61, claimed he was defending his son when he shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton, 14, in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia in 2023.
Prosecution and Defense Arguments
Prosecutors alleged that Chow and his adult son Andy thought Carmack-Belton had stolen from the family's Shell gas station and chased him out of the building. Surveillance footage played during the trial showed Carmack-Belton taking water bottles out of a cooler before putting them back. The video then showed Carmack-Belton being confronted by Chow's wife. The teenager said he did not have anything in his pocket before leaving the store. He was then chased by Chow and his son.
Chow's lawyers argued that he fired his weapon to defend his son only after the teen pointed a gun at Andy. 'This case is not about a shoplifter. This case is about a father who sees a gun pointed at his son and had to make a decision,' defense attorney Shaun Kent told jurors during closing arguments. Prosecutors acknowledged Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, but they say it fell on the ground during the chase, and he never threatened anyone with it.
Verdict and Aftermath
After a five-day trial and eight hours of deliberation, the jury found Chow not guilty of murder on Monday. Chow's other defense attorney, Jack Swerling, said his client is finally a free man after being held in jail since his arrest after the shooting three years ago. 'We're not celebrating the fact that this young man got killed,' Swerling told WLTX. 'Nobody wants to take anybody's life, but you're gonna protect your children, you're gonna protect yourself, you're gonna protect your wife. It's the oldest legal principle that exists, self-defense or defense of others.'
During the trial, Swerling questioned why the teen was carrying a pistol equipped with a laser sight around the streets of Columbia. 'If he didn't have that weapon, he never would have had a weapon to draw on Andy Chow,' Swerling said. 'He never would have had a weapon to put Andy Chow in danger. And he never would have had a weapon that would cause Mr. Chow to believe his son was going to be shot and have to make a split-second decision - a split-second decision - as to whether or not to go ahead and fire that gun and protect his son.'
Afterward, Chow performed CPR on Carmack-Belton, which Swerling said helps prove Chow acted without malice - a required element of a murder charge in South Carolina. Prosecutor Byron Gipson, the Fifth Circuit Solicitor, told jurors that Chow 'chased a kid down, shot him in the back.' Gipson said multiple witnesses testified that they didn't see anything in Carmack-Belton's hands and didn't see him point a gun as he ran from the store. 'Nobody testified that happened that doesn't have the last name Chow,' Gipson said.
Community Reaction
Carmack-Belton's death sparked outrage in Richland County, where nearly half the population is black. Protesters accused Chow of mistreating black customers, and vandalized and broke into his store, stealing cigarettes and beer, according to police. Police records showed that Chow shot at shoplifters twice in the past eight years but did not face charges after investigators said he acted in self-defense.
Attorney Todd Rutherford, who represents the Carmack-Belton family, said they are disappointed with the verdict and plan to file a civil lawsuit against Chow. 'There is no way that a child who did nothing wrong, who was shot in his back, how that jury can justify that verdict,' Rutherford said. 'I've been practicing law for almost 30 years. I've never seen anything like this. I don't understand it.'
