Authorities later recovered a gun next to the teen’s body, but the sheriff said there was no evidence the teen ever pointed the weapon at Chow or his son.
Rick Chow waits for a bond hearing to begin at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Chow is accused of fatally shooting Columbia teenager Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after an apparent argument between the two at Chow’s Parklane Road store Sunday night, according to Richland County officials. (Pool image, WLTX, Chris Brathwaite)
Chow was represented at the hearing by Columbia attorney James Snell. Both Snell and Chow declined to speak at the hearing.
A peaceful crowd gathered at the Shell gas station on Monday afternoon. However, a crowd at the station was dispersed later that night after protests turned destructive, the sheriff’s department states. Deputies at the scene reported that they found shattered windows and a large crowd of people inside the business stealing merchandise.
Lott has vowed to arrest the vandals, noting on Tuesday that his department had security footage of the incident. He added that deputies had been assigned to guard the store.
Rick Chow waits for a bond hearing to begin at Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Tuesday, May 30, 2023. Chow is accused of fatally shooting Columbia teenager Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after an apparent argument between the two at Chow’s Parklane Road store Sunday night, according to Richland County officials. (Pool image, WLTX, Chris Brathwaite)
Chow was represented at the hearing by Columbia attorney James Snell. Both Snell and Chow declined to speak at the hearing.
Store owner accused of chasing, gunning down 14-year-old boy he mistook for shoplifter
A South Carolina gas station and convenience store owner has been charged with murder after authorities said he chased and fatally shot a 14-year-old boy in the back because he thought the teen had stolen four bottles of water from him.
Rick Chow, 58, from Columbia, made his initial court appearance Tuesday in the killing of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, which took place outside the suspect’s Shell gas station late Sunday.
Authorities said that Chow believed that the teen — who was reportedly armed — had pilfered four water bottles from his Xpress Mart store, but according to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, the boy put the bottles back in the cooler.