Free Republic

A store owner in South Carolina who spent three years in jail before his trial was acquitted of a murder charge after shooting and killing an armed teen outside the store in 2023. A jury in Richland County found Rick Chow not guilty Monday in the shooting death of 14-year-old Cyrus Cormack-Belton. On May 28, 2023, Chow and his son, Andy Chow, pursued Cormack-Belton out of their Columbia, South Carolina, convenience store after suspecting him of shoplifting. The father and son duo chased the teen about 100 yards before Chow shot him in the back with a .45-caliber Glock handgun,...

AP — A South Carolina jury on Monday found a store owner not guilty of murder in the 2023 shooting of a Black 14-year-old. 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, but 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.After the verdict was read, sobs and cries of distress could be heard coming from Carmack-Belton’s family...