Store owner found not guilty of murder in 2023 killing of Black teen in South Carolina

A South Carolina jury found Chikei Rick Chow, a store owner, not guilty Monday of murder in the 2023 shooting of a Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a Black 14-year-old.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina jury found a store owner not guilty of murder Monday in the 2023 shooting of a Black 14-year-old.

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The jury returned the verdict for Chikei Rick Chow. Chow, 61, who is Asian, shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back after chasing him from his convenience store in Columbia. He 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.