‘He’s forever 14’: Carmack-Belton’s parents denounce not-guilty verdict
The parents of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, the 14-year-old fatally shot outside a Columbia-area gas station in 2023, said they were “shocked” and “devastated” after a jury returned a not-guilty verdict — and they vowed to keep speaking out as more than 200 community members gathered at a memorial in their son’s honor.
“I was in disbelief, and I was definitely devastated,” Nicole Carmack, Cyrus’ mother, told The State in interview at the memorial. “For the jury to come back with our son being shot in the back, not only in the back, but in a running stance, trying to get away, it’s just unfathomable.”
Carmack said the verdict meant, in her view, that “the murderer is running free,” while her son “can never come home. He’s forever 14.”
Troy Belton, Cyrus’ father, echoed her frustration, questioning how the shooting could be justified if, as he described it, the teen was running away when he was shot.
“How do you justify shooting someone in the back, regardless of him having a gun or not?” Belton said. “Only thing I see was a child that was scared … and you’re gonna still shoot him in the back.”
Both parents said they felt Cyrus was treated as a suspect from the moment he entered the store, and compared the case to other high-profile shootings that have sparked national debate over self-defense laws and the criminal justice system.
Attorney and S.C. State Rep. Todd Rutherford said Chow’s claim that he was defending his son, Andy, when he fatally shot was “a lie and a farce and the jury got it wrong.”
“We want to educate the world that Black lives matter, 14-year-old Cyrus mattered, and that hopefully his death changes the world ... shows us that we’re not going to just lose our children and go silently into the night,” Rutherford said, who represents the family in a civil wrongful death case against the Chows.
The civil case was stayed by Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble last September in order to not “unduly prejudice Chow and deprive him the right to adequately defend” himself.
Now that Chow’s criminal case has concluded, the civil case will move forward in the coming days, according to Rutherford.
A history of violence
Carmack-Belton was not the only person Chow shot at after leaving his store.
On two prior occasions, Chow discharged his weapon claiming self-defense against a patron, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.
In 2015, Chow fired six shots into the side of a vehicle after attempting to stop someone from stealing, according to the department. The person had threatened to shoot Chow. No one was injured in that shooting.
And again, in 2018, Chow fired two shots at a person the sheriff’s department called a shoplifter, and struck the person in the leg. That person was treated at a hospital for the gunshot wound and later pleaded guilty to “charges stemming from this incident,” according to the department, which did not indicate if the shoplifter had a weapon.
“Rick Chow shot two people before ... and none of that information could be brought to light (before the jury),” Carmack said. “I do not think that is fair, and if that’s on the law books, that needs to be changed, because if that wasn’t on the (books) then my son would’ve gotten justice.”
At the memorial, they said the outpouring of support — from people they know and strangers alike — reinforced that their son’s death continues to resonate beyond their family.
“It means that Cyrus is loved and supported, and that what happened to him was unjust,” Carmack said.
Belton said they wanted the gathering to remain peaceful and safe, even as emotions ran high after the verdict.
“We’re looking for everything peaceful,” he said. “We just want everybody to be safe and express themselves.”
This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 9:20 PM.
