South Carolina store owner acquitted of murder in 2023 killing of Black teen wrongly suspected of shoplifting

A South Carolina jury on Monday found a store owner not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of a Black 14-year-old.

Chikei Rick Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia, but 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