Jury acquits store owner after chase shooting teen

A South Carolina jury found store owner Chikei Rick Chow not guilty of murder for the 2023 shooting of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton. The verdict came after weeks of testimony that sharply differed on whether the teenager pointed a gun during a chase and wh

In the courtroom in Columbia, S.C., the moment the verdict was read, the room changed tone.

Sobs and cries of distress rose from Carmack-Belton’s family, who were seated in the gallery. Chikei Rick Chow, 61, sat silently—frozen—before slowly bowing his head onto his interlocked hands.

The jury returned a not guilty verdict for Chow in the 2023 shooting of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a Black 14-year-old. The killing shook the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.

The prosecution and the defense described that night in opposite ways. Prosecutors said Chow shot Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia. The defense maintained Chow acted to defend his son.

Chow’s identity and the sequence of events became part of the fight over what the jury should believe. Chow is Asian. Jurors heard that he fired after chasing the teen more than 130 yards (119 meters) from the store—an effort that became central to how each side explained the shooting.

Prosecutors told the jury the motive was anger. They argued Chow wrongly believed Carmack-Belton had stolen four bottles of water from the store.

Defense attorney Shaun Kent told jurors during closing arguments that the case was not about a shoplifter. “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,” Kent said.

Kent said Chow fired to defend his son only after the teen pointed a gun at him. Kent also told the jury that Andy Chow testified that Carmack-Belton pointed a gun at him.

When the state spoke, it acknowledged Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol—but said the evidence showed it never became a threat. Prosecutors said the pistol fell to the ground during the chase and that Carmack-Belton never threatened anyone with it.

Solicitor Byron E. Gipson pressed that point directly to the jury. saying Chow “chased a kid down. shot him in the back.” During closing arguments. Gipson placed a bottle of water before jurors. Gipson argued that Chow. at the end of the day. acted on a belief he framed as dehumanizing—saying Chow “at the end of the day. believed that a human is not more than that.”.

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.

The verdict brought back the grief that followed the shooting in 2023. and it came after protests that filled the air outside the store. Empty water bottles were arranged to spell out “Cyrus” at one 2023 vigil. a stark reminder that even before the courtroom reached its decision. the case had become more than a criminal matter—one that people in the community carried as personal loss.

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