Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Posted on 07/12/2025 8:57:17 AM PDT by xxqqzz
COLUMBIA, S.C. - A former Columbia gas station owner accused of killing a 14-year-old boy appeared in court on Monday to request bond for a second time.
Rick Chow is accused of chasing Cyrus Carmack-Belton from his gas station and convenience store on Parklane Road in May of 2023 and then shooting him in the back.
Prosecutors say he falsely accused the teenager of stealing bottled water.
Chow requested Monday’s second bond hearing after a judge initially denied his bond on the murder charge almost two years ago.
“He was shot in the back, an act of cowardice and cruelty that no parent should ever have to endure,” Nicole Carmack, the teenager’s mother, said. “I stand before you today to plead with the court to deny bail to Rick Chow.”
Monday’s hearing was packed with family and loved ones of Carmack-Belton as his parents spoke passionately about keeping Chow locked up.
“You run a child down because of water?” Carmack-Belton’s father Troy Belton said. “It’s water. I give water away to people who I see need it.”
Nicole Carmack said her son was not just a number. He was a bright, funny, kind boy, she said.
He attended a magnet program, and his teachers and principal have praised how he conducted himself in the classroom.
Carmack-Belton’s mother said that Chow shattered her family.
“He had a future, and in a single, heartless moment of racial profiling and false accusations of theft led Rick Chow to take his freedom,” Nicole Carmack said.
Chow’s defense team says there has been a change in circumstances.
His attorney Jack Swerling, who has been a criminal defense lawyer in the state for more than 50 years, said DNA evidence now ties Carmack-Belton to the gun that was found near his body.
(Excerpt) Read more at wrdw.com ...
|
|
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 |
don’t let him out. but 2 years waiting for a trail? why so long?
I’m gonna go with “Takin’ out the Trash” until conclusively proven otherwise.
Same
The wholesale price of a bottle of water might be twenty-five to thirty-five cents, but by rough estimate, the loss of the business, the legal bills, and two years in county jail ended up costing a little bit more than a quarter.
Shooting someone running away in the back who just murdered a loved one, I get it. Doing the same for stealing water, I don’t think so. But if he was a “bright” kid, why is he stealing water?
Fourteen is not a *child*.
Some fourteen year olds are pretty mature physically.
Shooting in the back while running away ... ?
A THIEF IS A THIEF IS A THIEF
THE IS STEP one in a trail to worse behavior.
NONE of these bleeding hearts have had to keep their inventory from getting stolen.
NOT this kid’s first bad behavior-—AND HE WAS ARMED.
THAT CHANGES THE STORY COMPLETELY FOR ME
ABSOLUTELY
It certainly was an expensive bottle of water to the decedent.
Cops will kill you just for acting suspicious, so what is really your point?
I thought stealing some ones merchandise who depends of it to live and survive was cruel and cowardice.
Shouldn’t have shot him in the back, running away, no matter if he was armed or not,
14-y-o teenagers are not legally allowed to own or possess a handgun.
There's more to the story than is being reported.
My point is that shooting someone in the back for stealing water is murder. And this isn’t the case of some jack-booted thug cop shooting someone for looking suspicious. What does that even have to do with this case?
Because he's not quite such a "bright" kid, and his parents(?) are puking up the usual "dindunuffin" rhetoric. Color me skeptical.
What has happened to the swift justice promised by our Constitution?
Journalism is the creating of a story to persuade the audience to the point of view of the creator(s).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.