- A retailer proprietor was charged with homicide after he shot and killed a Black teen he accused of shoplifting.
- Cyrus Carmack-Belton, 14, died of a gunshot to the again as he fled his assailants, authorities mentioned.
- One in every of Carmack-Belton’s brothers informed WIS Information that Cyrus did not deserve what occurred to him.
A South Carolina household is mourning after a 58-year-old retailer proprietor shot and killed a 14-year-old Black teenager he accused of shoplifting.
Police have mentioned there is no such thing as a proof {the teenager} took something.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Workplace arrested Rick Chow, the proprietor of a Shell fuel station and comfort retailer in Columbia, in reference to the taking pictures demise of Cyrus Carmack-Belton. Chow was charged with homicide, the sheriff’s workplace mentioned throughout a press convention. Previous dashing tickets record Chow’s race as Asian American.
Chow has but to enter a plea and is being held earlier than his bond listening to is ready, The State reported. His legal professional did not instantly reply to Insider’s request for touch upon Wednesday.
Through the press convention on Monday, Sheriff Leon Lott referred to as the main points of the taking pictures “disturbing.”
“The house owners of the comfort retailer suspected him of shoplifting. He didn’t shoplift something. Now we have no proof that he stole something by any means,” Lott mentioned.
Lott mentioned there was a “verbal confrontation” within the retailer on Sunday night, after which Carmack-Belton ran from the shop. Chow and his son chased {the teenager}, who at one level fell after which obtained again up, Lott mentioned. Chow’s son mentioned Carmack-Belton had a gun, and shortly afterward, Chow shot Carmack-Belton within the again with a pistol, Lott mentioned.
The sheriff mentioned deputies discovered a firearm close to Carmack-Belton’s physique, however there was no proof that he pointed it at retailer staff at any level.
“Even when he had shoplifted 4 bottles of water, which is what he initially took out the cooler after which he put them again, even when he had completed that, that is not one thing you shoot anyone over, a lot much less a 14-year-old,” Lott mentioned. “You simply do not do this.”
{The teenager} died of a single gunshot wound to his proper decrease again, Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford mentioned on the press convention.
“It appears to be in line with somebody who was working away from the assailants,” Rutherford mentioned.
—Richland County Sheriff’s Dept. (@RCSD) May 30, 2023
One in every of Carmack-Belton’s brothers informed native NBC affiliate WIS Information that Carmack-Belton was a very good, sensible child who did not need to die as he did.
South Carolina Rep. Todd Rutherford, a Democratic state legislator whose authorized agency is representing Carmack-Belton’s household, mentioned on Instagram that he is recognized the household for years. In a put up with a photograph of Cyrus, Rutherford mentioned what occurred to {the teenager} “wasn’t an accident.”
“It is one thing that the Black neighborhood has skilled for generations: being racially profiled, then shot down on the street like a canine,” Rutherford mentioned on Instagram. “Phrases cannot describe the ache I really feel having recognized this household for many years. I am asking that our neighborhood proceed to wrap their arms round this household as they’ve joined the membership that no Black household ever needs to be part of.”
WIS reported that protestors gathered on the comfort retailer and hung indicators, one in every of which mentioned: “Water or Life? Which Means Extra?”
Lott mentioned at a second press convention on Tuesday that the “peaceable demonstration” was hijacked by looters later within the night, which he mentioned was “completely pointless.”
“That is not what the household of that 14-year-old needs. That is not what this neighborhood needs,” Lott mentioned, including that these accountable could be prosecuted. “What does stealing a case of beer must do with a 14-year-old being shot and the individual accountable charged with homicide?”