Store owner acquitted of murder in shooting of armed teen in South Carolina

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, killing Cormack-Belton, according to the Post and Courier.

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Cormack-Belton was carrying a semiautomatic pistol at the time, and Chow’s defense contended that he aimed the gun at Andy Chow, which caused the elder Chow to fire the shot in self-defense. While the state acknowledged that the teen had a gun, they said it fell onto the street and posed no danger to the Chows.

Chow was charged with murder the day after the shooting, and subsequently held without bond for just over three years leading up to the trial.

Tensions were high in the community as locals and activists held public demonstrations in the days and weeks after Cormack-Belton’s death. Crowds reportedly gathered outside Chow’s store on May 29, 2023, and cheered when they learned that Chow was charged with murder.

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The store was vandalized later that night.

Chow’s trial lasted for three days, and according to the Post and Courier, the jury deliberated Monday for about 8 1/2 hours, from early afternoon to nearly 9 p.m., before reaching its decision.

After the not-guilty verdict, Chow was released from custody, and is now a free man for the first time since 2023.

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“We’re very pleased at the jury’s deliberations and their verdict,” one of Chow’s attorneys, Jack Swerling, said after the not-guilty verdict, WIS News 10 reported. “We think it was the appropriate verdict in this case. Although it was a difficult decision to come to, because you have two different stories to the extremes.”

“My heart goes out to them, but a 14-year-old kid should not be roaming the streets of Columbia or South Carolina with semiautomatic pistol loaded and ready to fire,” he said.

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An attorney for the Cormack-Belton family, Todd Rutherford, said the family intends to file a civil lawsuit against Chow.

Fox News Digital reached out to Swerling and Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, who prosecuted the case.