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The mother of slain South Carolina 14-year-old Cyrus Carmack-Belton took to social media recently – pleading for the son of her late son’s alleged killer to be arrested. According to Nicole Carmack, police have arrested just one of the two people she believes to be responsible for his death.
In a Facebook post made on Sunday, Cole called for the arrest of Andy Chow – son of accused killer Rick Chow.
According to her, Andy Chow “initiated the chase of my beloved son” three weeks ago at the “XPress Mart” Shell gas station and convenience store located at 7441 Parklane Road in Columbia, South Carolina.
Carmack-Belton entered the convenience store at around 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 29, 2023 and retrieved four water bottles – but reportedly put them back in the cooler prior to departing, according to investigators. Nonetheless, at some point while he was inside the store a verbal altercation ensued between him and Chow, the owner of the store.
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Carmack-Belton was allegedly chased from the store onto the 200 block of Springtree Drive by Chow and his son – at which point the elder Chow shot him in the back. A handgun was retrieved near the victim’s body but according to authorities there is no indication the 14-year-old shot or pointed the gun at the store owner or his son.
According to Carmack, her son was “racially profiled and falsely accused” of stealing prior to the shooting.
In a previous press conference, Richland County sheriff Leon Lott stated the case was still under investigation and that video surveillance of from the Shell convenience store on that fateful day was being reviewed.
Chow – who has a valid concealed weapons permit – was charged with murder in Carmack-Belton’s shooting. He is currently being held without bond at the Alvin S. Glenn detention center south of Columbia, S.C. Chow was involved in a pair of previous shootings – one in 2015 and another in 2018 – but was not charged in either of those cases.
In the 2015 shooting, Chow fired six shots into a vehicle following a suspected shoplifting incident.
In the 2018 shooting, Chow fired a round which struck an admitted shoplifter in the leg – but according to Lott’s agency, his conduct in both of the incidents “did not meet the requirements under South Carolina law to support criminal charges.”
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“Rick Chow was arrested but his son remains free,” Carmack noted in her post.
She called on her supporters to call the office of S.C. fifth circuit solicitor Byron Gipson and “demand charges.”
“Demand Andy Chow’s arrest,” Carmack wrote.
This news outlet will keep our audience in the loop in the event there are any updates to this investigation – including the issuance of any warrants for additional arrests.
As previously noted, Rick Chow is considered innocent until proven guilty by our criminal justice system – or until such time as he may wish to enter some form of allocution in connection with a plea agreement with prosecutors related to any of the charges that may be filed against him.
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12 comments
Wait, what exactly did the son do?
The kid definitely did not deserve to die but another question begs…..why was a 14 y.o, kid carrying a handgun? Kid was no angel according to some reports. Another absentee father victim. When will the minority communities stop celebrating this “cultutre”????
Oh GTFO! I have yet to read anything stating anything bad about this child. I have only seen numerous photos of him reading books, etc. he was described by his school as a student who made good grades and asked questions that went beyond what others asked. He was in a magnet portion of the school. Maybe he felt the need to carry protection from people like Mr. Chow.
Yeah, and if you listened to the media and looked at the pics they presented, Trayvon was a cute little kid next door that was totally non-threatening; not the callous thug-in-training who had been involved in burglaries and possessing stolen property.
This is an old game that gets played every time a member of a culture with a disproportionate predispostion towards criminal behavior gets caught in a rat trap. Stop it, already!
Regardless of what anyone would have done previously, are you condoning Chow’s actions? Do you think 14 year olds should be chased down the road for no reason and then shot? Seriously, go check yourself.
“involved in burglaries and possessing stolen property.”
Huh, that’s odd, I looked up what the punishment for those crimes are and didn’t see the death penalty for any of them.
Even stranger, I didn’t find anything in the law books telling citizens to murder people in a neighborhood they live in because they “might” steal something.
Come to think of it, you… you didn’t ask us to look at what kind of guy Zimmerman was outside of what conservative media tried to paint him as. Wonder why…
When will conservative communities stop celebrating gun culture and the desire to be able to instantly kill anyone they simply perceive as a threat?
Funny that you berate conservative communities celebrating gun culture, while ignoring that the decedent, a member of the demographic involved in the vast majority of shooting incidents in Richland County, was illegally armed at the time of his death. He was both too young to legally possess a handgun and did not have a permit, which he was again to young to obtain. There is a gun culture in Richland County that is involved in most shooting incidents by a wide margin, but it is not made up of law-abiding conservatives.
Right, and Chow was “law-abiding” until he wasn’t. This country has an unhealthy obsession with guns.
Tell that to the demographic involved in almost daily illegal shootings in Richland County.
“a member of the demographic involved in the vast majority of shooting incidents in Richland County”
Just say you hate black people, damn. Talk about reaching over your shoulder to scratch your butt crack, just live loud and proud as a racist and quit the aw shucks crap.
“was illegally armed at the time of his death. He was both too young to legally possess a handgun and did not have a permit, which he was again to young to obtain.”
Relax fam, he was just “civilly disobeying” gun laws. You remember, shall not be infringed? Will assured everyone it was the moral thing to do.
This is a horrific tragedy & my heart goes out this Mother. But again, why did a 14 year old have a gun? As tragic as this is, there has to be a lot more to this story.