South Carolina jury finds store owner not guilty of murder in killing of Black teen

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

Updated 12:54 AM CDT, June 2, 2026

COLUMBIA, S.C (AP) — A South Carolina jury on Monday found a store owner not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of a Black 14-year-old.

The jury returned the verdict for Chikei Rick Chow. Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia. He maintained he acted to defend his son.

The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.

After the verdict was read, sobs and cries of distress could be heard coming from Carmack-Belton’s family seated in the gallery. Chow sat silently frozen before slowly bowing his head onto his interlocked hands.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/store-owner-shooting-black-teen-south-carolina-d1d6534afe8cb98a5e4fc153290d480b

[mahina]

1. How does a family deal with grief like that?

And a community, and a country?

Shot him to death in the back but he goes free???

[The Grand Illuminist]

9. Red state jury nulification

nt

[Easterncedar]

2. Along with the post about 70 lynchings over 2020-2025

I don’t know what to do with my outrage

[mahina]

22. Damn. I missed that.

Heartbreaking and enraging! 70?!?!?!?!

[Vinca]

3. How the hell is it defending his son if the kid was running away?????????

[Hieronymus Phact]

4. yeah

Shooting someone in the back is literally impossible to call self defense. At least in my state.

[Harker]

7. I'm no defense lawyer, but it seems to me that if someone were assaulting another person...

and turned their back momentarily to reach for a nearby axe, there might be a case.

[Hieronymus Phact]

8. true, an unliikely situation could result in such an outcome.

But that would be the exception that proves the rule.
In my state, shooting someone in the back gets you in trouble even if it's inside your own home.
You'll still need to have a really good explanation for the judge on how it worked out that way.
Not impossible but unlikely.

[happy feet]

18. That is not what happened

In this case. Why are you stretching with a what if unrelated to the case.

[Harker]

19. I wasn't responding to the original post.

[dalton99a]

5. More details:

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article315962637.html
Not guilty. Rick Chow absolved of accusation he wrongfully killed a 14-year-old.

[GreatGazoo]

6. The prosecutors blew it

Or selection of those prosecutors doomed this trial.

Not the most professional and strategic way to sway a jury. Skip to 8:00 badgering or 9:46 unhinged

[Wonder Why]

10. What one expects in MAGA Carolina.

[live love laugh]

21. In retrospect I'm surprised they convicted the Charleston church shooter.

[retiredwelder]

11. shooting

Was the kid armed ?

[Emile]

14. Yes, he was armed. From the article above,

“My heart goes out to them, but 14-year-old kid should not be roaming the streets of Columbia or South Carolina with semiautomatic pistol loaded and ready to fire,” he said.

I don't condone shooting the person in the back, but I'm sure the jury knows a lot more than I do.

[PatSeg]

15. That is true

We weren't there and didn't hear everything they heard during the trial.

[moniss]

12. The execution of this young man and it being excused

by the people of one of the most deeply racist states. Chow will probably be held up as a hero by the gun mob the way they do with Rittenhouse.

[karynnj]

13. What a terrible verdict

Here is a link to a more complete CNN article for people like me who knew nothing of the back story. https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/01/us/south-carolina-murder-trial-cyrus-carmack-belton

From it you can see that he was running away, was shot in the back, and multiple witnesses said they did not see him pointing a gun at anyone. There was a sentence saying the gun was dropped.

Obviously the 14 year old should not have been carrying a gun. It would have been reasonable to call the police and file a report. If the store had surveillance cameras, this could have been one of many stories where images led to police identifying and charging the kid appropriately.

I understand how the storekeeper might have felt threatened when the boy was in the store, as soon as he was running away, anger probably replaced fear.

[live love laugh]

16. Wow that should up the wannabe supremacist proximity scale quite a bit....

[Martin68]

17. A miscarriage of justice.

[Karma13612]

20. Maybe a civil suit

will now be brought.

If they find for the victim, then maybe the damages will be such that it destroys the shooter’s future. And I doubt he will be able to keep his business going even now. Even without a civil suit.

This is so sad.

[pfitz59]

23. The teen had a gun

Complicates the case.