Wave Staff and Wire Report
COLUMBIA, S.C — Relatives of a 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a Chinese American store owner in 2023 said they were “heartbroken” this week when they heard a jury acquit Chikei Rick Chow of the murder of their family member, Cyrus Carmack-Belton.
“Yesterday a jury watched our 14-year-old boy run away from two grown men on video. They knew one of them shot him in the back and they still said no one is to blame,” the family said in a statement first shared with ABC News.
“We are heartbroken. We do not accept it. Cyrus stole nothing. He was a child, and he was running for his life. Our son mattered.”
The jury returned a not guilty verdict this week after deliberating in the murder trial against Chow, a convenience store owner who fatally shot Carmack-Belton in May of 2023 after he and his son chased the boy outside his store.
The killing sent waves of anger and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black. It also drew national attention after surveillance video showed Chow and his son chasing the teenager from the store moments before the shooting.
Prosecutors argued Chow, 61, acted on the mistaken belief that Carmack-Belton had stolen four bottles of water. Video later obtained by ABC News showed the teenager returning the water bottles before the confrontation escalated.
Chow said the teenager had a gun and he shot the boy to defend his son. Defense lawyer Jack Swerling said they’re very pleased with the verdict but also feel for Carmack-Belton’s family.
After the verdict was read, sobs and cries of distress could be heard coming from Carmack-Belton’s family seated in the gallery. In a statement released this week, the family connected the outcome to the history of violence and failed accountability involving Black Americans.
“Black families have stood right here too many times — burying our children and then being told the law sees nothing,” the statement read. “We feel every bit of that today.”
Todd Rutherford, an attorney and representative in the South Carolina Legislature, stood with Carmack-Belton’s father as he told reporters that they don’t agree with the verdict.
“This makes us feel as if our children don’t matter and they do,” he said. “This makes us feel like Cyrus’ life didn’t matter and it did.”
Rutherford said the family will pursue a civil lawsuit.
“I’ve been practicing law for almost 30 years. I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t understand it,” he said.
Some observers compared the South Carolina killing to the 1991 Los Angeles killing of Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old Black girl fatally shot by Korean American store owner Soon Ja Du after being falsely accused of stealing orange juice from a convenience store.
Security footage later showed Harlins had money in her hand before she was shot in the back of the head while attempting to leave the store.
Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter but received probation, community service and a fine instead of prison time — a sentence that sparked outrage throughout Black communities and became one of the events that ignited the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
