South Carolina retailer proprietor Rick Chow has been charged within the taking pictures dying of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton.
Store Owner Rick Chow Charged With Murder After Shooting 14-Year-Old Boy
According to WIS-TV, Chow allegedly believed the teenager shoplifted a bottle of water from his Shell gasoline station in Columbia when the taking pictures occurred round 8 p.m. Sunday.
However, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott refuted Chow’s shoplifting claims and mentioned even when the teenager had stolen, it will not have warranted what adopted.
“Regardless, even if he had shoplifted four bottles of water, which is what he initially took out of the cooler and then he put them back, even if he’d done that, that’s not something you shoot anybody over, much less a 14-year-old, but you just don’t do that,” Sheriff Lott mentioned.
Authorities say, Chow, 58, and his son chased Carmack-Belton exterior the shop earlier than gunning the boy down. Sheriff Lott known as the boy’s dying “senseless.”
“It’s senseless; it doesn’t make sense,” Sheriff Lott mentioned throughout a Memorial Day press convention. “You have a family that’s grieving, we have a community that’s grieving over a 14-year-old who was shot.”
Rick Chow, proprietor of a Shell gasoline station in Columbia, SC, MURDERED Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14 yr previous Black boy, over a bottle of water.
Asian Americans have a historical past of anti-Blackness, exploiting Black neighborhoods, policing Black our bodies, and appropriating Black tradition. pic.twitter.com/hcrnl8NY0M
— Bishop Talbert Swan (@TalbertSwan) May 30, 2023
Store Owner Believed Teen Had Shoplifted And Was Armed, Police Say
Chow’s son reportedly advised his father that Carmack-Belton was armed, in response to RCSD. Deputies finally recovered a gun close to the sufferer’s physique, believed to be Carmack-Belton’s.
However, RCSD mentioned there isn’t a proof that Carmack-Belton ever pointed the gun at or threatened Chow in any approach, in response to the outlet.
Sheriff Lott added that Carmack-Belton was working away from Chow when he was shot. Meanwhile, Richland County coroner Naida Rutherford mentioned the boy suffered one gunshot wound to the suitable decrease again.
Investigators consider Chow “had a concealed weapons permit” and the “firearm was legally owned.”
Lott went on to say that there have been a number of reported incidents and confrontations on the retailer. However, he mentioned none of these previous incidents would have led Chow to consider he was in peril.
Chow’s Shell Gas Station Vandalized By Protesters A Day After Deadly Shooting
On Monday, WIS-TV reported that Chow’s retailer had been vandalized after protests there turned harmful, police say.
Deputies responded to the placement round 9:30 p.m. on Monday. Upon arrival, they are saying they discovered shattered home windows and a big group of individuals stealing merchandise inside the shop.
“This type of criminal behavior will not be tolerated,” mentioned Sheriff Lott. “Individuals involved will be identified and prosecuted.”
HAPPENING TODAY: This is the scene at present on the Shell gasoline station on Parklane Drive in Columbia.
Richland Co. Deputies say the shop was vandalized after the proprietor Rick Chow was charged with the homicide of 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton. @wachfox pic.twitter.com/wuLJ2rwujL
— Sydni Edwards (@SydniSpeakstv) May 30, 2023
Meanwhile, an investigation into the incident is ongoing, deputies added.
Law & Crime stories that Chow’s first court docket look is scheduled for June 23.
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