A Columbia, South Carolina family is absolutely numb right now. On Monday, June 1, 2026, the system did exactly what we all feared it would do.
A Richland County jury officially cleared 61-year-old Chikei Rick Chow, finding him not guilty of murder after he chased down and shot 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton in the back over three years ago. The verdict left the Cyrus’s family even more heartbroken. Videos show moment the family broke down tears, screaming out for the child they’ll never get back, while Chow just sat there, realizing he was getting off scot-free.
As previously reported, this entire nightmare started back in May 2023 over four bottles of water. Chow wrongfully accused Cyrus of shoplifting from his Shell gas station. Security footage later proved the teenager hadn’t stolen a single thing, but the false accusation had already turned fatal. Instead of calling the police, Chow and his son Andy decided to…
They chased the boy more than 130 yards down the street, completely off store property, before Chow fired a single shot directly into Cyrus’s back. During the trial, prosecutors put a water bottle right on the table for the jury to see, making it clear that Chow took a child’s life because he thought “a human is not more than that.”
The defense team managed to flip the script by making the jury look at Cyrus as a threat instead of a victim. They kept banging on the fact that Cyrus had a gun on him. Prosecutors and eye-witnesses testified that Cyrus was running for his life, his hands were empty, and the gun had actually fallen out of his clothes during the chase.
But Chow’s son claimed the 14-year-old pointed the weapon at him, giving the defense the only opening they needed. Defense lawyer Shaun Kent looked the jury in the eyes and said, “This case is not about a shoplifter. This case is about a father who sees a gun pointed at his son and had to make a decision.”
Standing on the courthouse steps next to Cyrus’s grieving father, family attorney Todd Rutherford let the world know how heavy this hurts. “This makes us feel as if our children don’t matter and they do,” Rutherford said. “This makes us feel like Cyrus’ life didn’t matter and it did. I’ve been practicing law for almost 30 years. I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t understand it.”
Cyrus should be getting ready for his senior year of high school right now, but instead, his family is forced to keep fighting for him through a civil lawsuit just to prove his life had value.