Black Teen Shot In The Back Over Bottles Of Water & Shooter Walks Free

The verdict felt familiar to anyone who remembers 1991. A South Carolina jury on Monday acquitted Chikei Rick Chow, 61, of murder in the 2023 shooting death of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14-year-old Black boy shot in the back outside a Columbia convenience store, and the echoes of Latasha Harlins rang loud.

Harlins was 15 when Soon Ja Du shot her in the back of the head at a Los Angeles liquor store over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice. Du was convicted, then sentenced to probation and community service. No prison time. The rage that followed helped ignite the 1992 LA uprising.

Thirty-two years later, Chow chased Carmack-Belton more than 130 yards from his store, Solicitor Byron Gipson told jurors Chow "chased a kid down, shot him in the back," reportedly over four bottles of water. Like Harlins, Carmack-Belton was Black. Like Du, Chow is Asian. Like Du's case, the jury sided with the shooter.

Prosecutors said Chow acted out of anger over a suspected petty theft, not genuine fear. Gipson placed a bottle of water before jurors and said Chow "believed that a human is not more than that." Multiple witnesses testified they never saw Carmack-Belton point a weapon. "Nobody testified that happened that doesn't have the last name Chow," Gipson said.

The defense countered that Chow fired only after his son Andy saw the teen point a gun. "This case is about a father who sees a gun pointed at his son," defense attorney Shaun Kent argued. Prosecutors acknowledged Carmack-Belton carried a pistol but said it fell during the chase and was never raised.

After the not guilty verdict, sobs broke from Carmack-Belton's family in the gallery. Outside the store in 2023, mourners spelled "Cyrus" in empty water bottles.

Two children. Two store owners. Two acquittals. The commodity that apparently exceeded their worth: a bottle of juice, a bottle of water.

Link: ABC