Trial begins for a South Carolina store owner who fatally shot Black teen

A South Carolina jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of a store owner charged with murder in the 2023 fatal shooting of a Black 14-year-old, with the prosecutor calling it unprovoked and “heinous” while a defense lawyer insisted it was an act of defense.

Chikei Rick Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back during a foot chase in Columbia on May 28, 2023, believing — wrongly, prosecutors say — that he had stolen four bottles of water from the store. The killing sent waves of anguish and grief through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.

While prosecutors acknowledge Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, they say it fell on the ground during the chase and he never threatened anyone with it. But defense lawyers said the teen pointed the pistol at Chow’s son, Andy, and Chow fired one shot in his son’s defense.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is the value of a human life?” prosecutor Byron E. Gipson asked the 12-member jury. “To grieving parents who lost a 14-year-old to senseless acts of violence, a human life is priceless.”

Gipson added, “But on May 28, 2023, Chikei Rick Chow, the defendant in this case, determined that Cyrus Carmack-Belton’s life was worth less than four bottles of water.”

Gipson then tried to cast doubt on Chow’s claim of defending his son.

“In what world do you get to falsely accuse a 14-year-old of stealing, chase a 14-year-old 130 plus yards down a road while you’re armed with a pistol, shoot that person in the back, then claim you’re defending your son?” he said. “Folks it’s for that senseless act, for that ridiculous act, for that heinous act, that Chikei Rick Chow, the defendant in this case, has been charged and indicted for the crime of murder.”

Defense lawyer Jack Swerling began his opening statements questioning why the teen was carrying a pistol equipped with a laser sight around the streets of Columbia.

“If he didn’t have that weapon, he never would have had a weapon to draw on Andy Chow,” Swerling said. “He never would have had a weapon to put Andy Chow in danger. And he never would have had a weapon that would cause Mr. Chow to believe his son was going to be shot and have to make a split-second decision — a split-second decision — as to whether or not to go ahead and fire that gun and protect his son.”

Swerling said Chow felt he had no choice but to shoot the teen. Afterward, Chow performed CPR on Carmack-Belton, which Swerling said helps prove Chow acted without malice — a required element of a murder charge in South Carolina.

“Nobody’s saying everybody’s happy about this, but unfortunately there are occasions in human life when someone has to exercise that right of self-defense or defense of others,” Swerling said. “It’s sad. It’s tragic. There’s no question about that. My heart goes out to the family. They suffered a tremendous loss.”

Chow sat between his lawyers at the defense table, wearing a dark suit, white-collared shirt and no tie, occasionally writing on a notepad.

After opening statements, a police officer who responded to the shooting was the first witness to take the stand. The trial is expected to last several days.

Carmack-Belton had entered the store at about 8 p.m. that night, dressed in a hoodie and carrying a backpack. Under store rules, he left the backpack at the front of the store and proceeded to browse the aisles, Gipson said.

The teen eventually went to a cooler and took out four bottles of water, then put all the bottles back in, Gipson said. As Carmack-Belton was in the store, the Chows were watching him with suspicion, he said. The Xpress Mart Shell station store had multiple surveillance cameras inside and outside that showed the chain of events.

An argument ensued when Carmack-Belton walked back to the front of the store and he denied the Chows’ allegations that he stole water, Gipson said. The teen then grabbed his backpack and left the store.

Chow and his son Andy then followed Carmack-Belton, who began running. The teen lost a shoe and fell down a couple of times during the chase, which stretched about 130 yards (119 meters) from the store to a city street before the shooting, Gipson said.

A gun was found near Carmack-Belton’s body but investigators have said there is no evidence the teen ever directed the firearm at Chow or his son.

Operating a business was a dream for Chikei Rick Chow, Swerling said. Chow was born in Hong Kong and his wife was born in Malaysia. Both became U.S. citizens and had two sons, he said.