A convenience store owner in South Carolina has been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old Black boy whom he falsely accused of shoplifting.
On Sunday night, 58-year-old Rick Chow, owner of Columbia’s Xpress Mart Shell Station, chased and shot Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back.
According to local news station WLTX, Chow accused Carmack-Belton of stealing four water bottles.
During a press conference on Monday, Sheriff Leon Lott revealed the teenager had not shoplifted anything from the store. He later described the shooting as “unjustified” and “senseless.”
As he commented on Sunday’s tragic event, Lott told the media and members of the community, “You don’t do what happened last night.”
The interaction between Chow and Carmack-Belton began around 8 p.m. The teen and the store owner argued after Chow accused the 14-year-old of stealing water he touched.
Although Carmack-Belton touched the bottles, surveillance footage showed he placed them back in the cooler.
After the teen left the store, Chow’s son chased Carmack-Belton into a nearby apartment complex.
Lott stated the teen tripped and fell before Chow shot him in the back after his son claimed the teen had a gun.
The outlet reports authorities confirmed Carmack-Belton had a gun, but he didn’t point it at the father and son.
The Richland County coroner, Naida Rutherford, reported the gunshot wound injured the teen’s heart.
She later took to social media to clear up any misinformation about the shooting, stating it would be ruled a homicide.
Lott was openly distraught during the press conference. The Daily Mail transcribed the transgressions he felt with Chow’s actions.
“You don’t shoot somebody in the back if he’s not a threat to you. It’s the same standard that we do, that cops have to live by. You have to be defending someone’s life or your life. There has to be immediate danger to you.”
He emphasized the teen was running away with his back turned and wasn’t pointing a gun at anyone.
“Even if he had shoplifted four bottles of water, it’s not something you shoot anyone over much less a 14-year-old.”
Since the shooting, the convenience store on Parklane Road has been vandalized and looted in retaliation for the murder.
Community members have held multiple protests and vigils at the location, demanding justice for the teenager.
Protesters exclaimed their pain and anger at the situation.
“That king may not have mattered to them but he… mattered to us, because that could have been your child,” one said.
Yet, others are ensuring justice: “Justice will be served, starting at the bond hearing tomorrow where we request his bond be denied.”
Authorities arrested Chow and his son, with Chow appearing in court on Tuesday for a bond hearing.
WIS-TV reported Magistrate Judge John McLeod could not set Chow’s bond, and a circuit court judge will do so later.
Carmack-Belton’s murder has drawn comparisons to the murder of Latasha Harlins. A Los Angeles convenience store owner killed her after accusing her of stealing.
The teen’s tragic death helped spark the Los Angeles riots days after the police beating of Rodney King.
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