A jury in Columbia heard opening statements Wednesday in the murder trial of Chikei Rick Chow, the 61-year-old owner of a gas station convenience store who fatally shot 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back during a foot chase on May 28, 2023. Chow, who is Asian, is charged with murder in the killing of the Black teenager — a case that drew protests and widespread grief in the Richland County community, where nearly half the population is Black.
Prosecutor Byron E. Gipson told jurors the shooting was triggered by an accusation that Carmack-Belton had stolen four bottles of water from the store — an accusation Gipson said was false. The teen had entered the store around 8 p.m., taken the water bottles from a cooler and then put them back, according to prosecutors. He denied the theft allegation and left the store, sparking a confrontation.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, what is the value of a human life?” Gipson asked in his opening statement. “To grieving parents who lost a 14-year-old to senseless acts of violence, a human life is priceless.”
He 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 said Chow and his son, Andy, chased the teen more than 130 yards (about 120 meters) down a road from the store. While prosecutors acknowledge Carmack-Belton had a semiautomatic pistol, they said it fell to the ground during the chase and the teen never threatened anyone with it.
“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?” Gipson said, calling the shooting “senseless” and “heinous.”
Swerling, Chow’s defense lawyer, opened by questioning why Carmack-Belton was carrying a pistol equipped with a laser sight. He argued the teen pointed the weapon at Andy Chow, and that Chow — who had a concealed weapons permit — fired a single shot in defense of his son.
“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 noted that after the shooting, Chow performed CPR on Carmack-Belton, which he said helped prove Chow acted without malice — a required element for a murder conviction 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.”
Witness Lori Carson, who was in the area at the time of the shooting, testified that she saw Carmack-Belton running from the store with Chow and his son in pursuit. She said she never saw a gun or anything else in the teen’s hands. “He just looked frightened, scared. He looked like he needed help,” Carson said of the teen. “Just like a young child just in trouble, just needed help.”
Carson said that after they ran down the street, she saw Chow in a shooting position while Carmack-Belton was on the ground. She became emotional as she described trying to help the teen by removing leaves from his mouth while Chow performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Chow sat between his lawyers at the defense table, wearing a dark suit and white-collared shirt with no tie, his legs shackled, occasionally writing on a notepad. Swerling described Chow as a Hong Kong-born immigrant — his wife was born in Malaysia — who became a U.S. citizen and built a business.
The day after the shooting, protesters gathered at Chow’s store demanding justice, with some saying Chow had mistreated Black customers. Police records show he shot at shoplifters twice in the previous eight years but faced no charges after investigators determined he had acted in self-defense. After the protests, Chow’s store was vandalized and broken into, and cigarettes and beer were stolen, police said.
A responding police officer was the first witness to testify after opening statements. The trial is expected to last several days.