{"id":134244,"date":"2026-06-02T11:55:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/store-owner-held-without-bond-for-3-years-acquitted-of-murder-in-teens-shooting-death-134244"},"modified":"2026-06-02T11:55:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T15:55:42","slug":"store-owner-held-without-bond-for-3-years-acquitted-of-murder-in-teens-shooting-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/store-owner-held-without-bond-for-3-years-acquitted-of-murder-in-teens-shooting-death-134244","title":{"rendered":"Store owner held without bond for 3 years acquitted of murder in teen’s shooting death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A store owner in South Carolina<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

A jury in Richland County found Rick Chow not guilty Monday in the shooting death of 14-year-old Cyrus Cormack-Belton.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/a><\/p>\n

ARMED AMERICANS FIGHT BACK: INSIDE 2025\u2019S MOST GRIPPING SELF-DEFENSE SHOOTINGS ACROSS THE US<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

JUDGE RIPS INTO TEEN\u2019S \u2018HIGH-RISK\u2019 BEHAVIOR BEFORE DELIVERING DECADES-LONG SENTENCE IN VIOLENT ROBBERY<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The store was vandalized later that night.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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

JORDAN NEELY’S DAD FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST DANIEL PENNY AFTER SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“We\u2019re very pleased at the jury\u2019s deliberations and their verdict,” one of Chow\u2019s attorneys, Jack Swerling, said after the not-guilty verdict, WIS News 10 reported.<\/a> “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.”<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

An attorney for the Cormack-Belton family, Todd Rutherford, said the family intends to file a civil lawsuit<\/a> against Chow.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Swerling and Fifth Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson, who prosecuted the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/store-owner-held-without-bond-3-years-acquitted-murder-teens-shooting-death <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-134244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStore owner held without bond for 3 years acquitted of murder in teen's shooting death - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/store-owner-held-without-bond-for-3-years-acquitted-of-murder-in-teens-shooting-death-134244\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Store owner held without bond for 3 years acquitted of murder in teen's shooting death - 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