COLUMBIA, S.C (AP) — A South Carolina jury has begun deliberations after hearing closing arguments Monday in the trial of a store owner charged with murder in the 2023 fatal shooting of a Black 14-year-old, as prosecutors and defense lawyers painted different pictures of the killing.
Prosecutors have said the shooting was unprovoked, while defense lawyers have said Chikei Rick Chow only fired to defend his son.
Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton
in the back during a foot chase in Columbia. Chow believed — wrongly, prosecutors say — that the teen had stolen four bottles of water from the gas station convenience store. The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.
Chow admits to shooting Belton. However, defense lawyers argue the teen pointed a gun at Chow's son, Andy, and the father fired one shot to defend his son.
“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. The defense attorney said Andy Chow testified that Carmack-Belton pointed a gun at him.
Defense lawyers have said Chow made a split-second decision to defend his son. They had argued Chow performed CPR on Carmack-Belton, which they said shows he acted without malice — a required element of a murder charge in South Carolina.
Prosecutors acknowledge Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, but they say it fell on the ground during the chase and he never threatened anyone with it. Prosecutors said Chow chased the teen more than 130 yards (119 meters) from the store.
Solicitor Byron E. Gipson 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.
“Nobody testified that happened that doesn't have the last name Chow," Gipson said.
During closing arguments, Gipson placed a bottle of water before jurors. Gipson said that Chow “at the end of the day, believed that a human is not more than that.”
Prosecutors said a quick check of the surveillance tape would have shown that Carmack-Belton did not steal from the store. During the trial, witness Lori Carson testified that she saw Carmack-Belton running away from the store with Chow and his son in pursuit. She said she never saw a gun or anything else in the teen’s hands. She said the teen looked scared.
Protestors held vigils outside the store in the wake of the killing. Empty water bottles were arranged to spell out “Cyrus."
