Black Citizens Out of Options: A South Carolina Jury Sends Latest Message Regarding Black Youth In America
Posted by David Adams on June 2nd, 2026
I’m very angry today and I am certain that I am not alone. The problem is that my anger is two-fold. How does a store owner falsely acuse a 14-year-old kid of stealing bottles of water, chase him out the store off the property, shoots him in the back as he fled, and a jury in this country found the shooter “not guilty.” How doers that happen? Secondly, why is a 14-year-old walking around with a loaded gun?
Cyrus Carmack-Belton was only 14 years old. Fourteen! Old enough to be seen as a threat, but not old enough, apparently, to be seen as a child. He was old enough for suspicion to follow him out of a store, but not old enough for the justice system to protect the value of his life after he was shot in the back while running away. That is the outrage many within society posess at the center of this case.
A South Carolina jury has now acquitted Chikei “Rick” Chow, the store owner who shot and killed Cyrus in 2023 after falsely suspecting him of stealing bottled water. Let that sink in. A child was accused, chased, shot in the back, and now the man who pulled the trigger walks away from a murder charge. If this doesn’t anger you, than this should:
There were two prior Rick Chow shooting incidents reported by officials
1. May 4, 2015 — fired at a woman’s vehicle
Chow confronted a woman accused of taking two cases of Bud Light and boiled peanuts. After a struggle outside the store, she got into her vehicle. Chow reportedly pulled a .45 caliber Glock and fired about six shots at the passenger-side window. No one was injured.
2. October 12, 2018 — shot a shoplifter in the leg
Chow confronted a man accused of hiding a $6.49 can of oven cleaner in his clothes. Officials said the man assaulted Chow, and Chow fired twice, striking him in the leg. The shoplifter later pleaded guilty to charges from that incident.
Authorities said Chow was not charged in those earlier cases because investigators considered them self-defense under South Carolina law. But those incidents are important context to consider before understanding how Cyrus Carmack-Belton was killed, Chow had already used gunfire in shoplifting-related confrontations twice.
15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by Soon Ja Du in a California Korean store over a $2 bottle of juice in 1992.
There are moments when a verdict does more than decide a case. It reveals a culture. It exposes whose fear is treated as reasonable, whose child is treated as disposable, and whose grief is expected to quietly accept the language of “self-defense” even when the dead child was running away. Cyrus’ case is eerily similar to a 1992 case in California when a 15-year-old black girl was shot in the back over a $2 bottle of juice. The teen in that case had money in her hand, but Du, just like Chow was also acquitted.
It’s history repeating itself over and over again, but the victims in these cases remain the same. America has even brainwashed other non=whites who are’nt considered black, to believe that all black people are a threat. even our children. Cyrus Carmack-Belton was not killed during a violent robbery. He was not killed while attacking the store owner. He was not killed while advancing toward danger. Prosecutors said he was chased more than 130 yards from the store. They said he had been wrongly accused of stealing water. They said he was shot in the back.
The obvious detail that jumps out at you in this case is the kid was shot in the back. How can you justify shooting a person with their bacl to you. They are obviously not a threat. Hell, law enforcement can’t even shoot a person in the back based on most police use of force standards. Typically there arte very narrow exceptions why a cop can shoot a person in the back and be justified (only if a subject has just shot a policeman because they are deemed as the most dangerous to public safety, and in instances where an inmate is escaping from custody). That’s it. So how did Chow get away with this?
A shot in the back tells its own story. It tells us direction. It tells us distance. It tells us fear was moving away from the shooter, not toward him. Yet in America, especially when the child is Black, even retreat does not guarantee survival. Running away can still be turned into a threat, and in this case, it’s alleged that this kid pointed a gun at them (while fleeing?). Even when the facts are as ridiculous as this, childhood can still be put on trial, and just like in many other cases the dead can still be blamed for their own death.
Yes, much has been made of the allegation that Cyrus had a gun, and quite frankly, that element of this case doesn’t sit well with me. Why is a 14-year-old child walking the streets with a gun? That’s alarming, but it still doesn’t justify what happened to this child. It shouldn’t result in a death sentence. This fact does matter because no child should be walking around with a loaded weapon. Just like no responsible adult should ignore the deeper crisis that places guns in the hands of children. But Cyrus having a gun and only the allegation of the shooters that he pointed it at them, cannot become a permission slip to erase everything else.
It cannot erase the false accusation. It can’t erase the chase. It can’t erase the fact that Cyrus was off of their property. It can’t erase that he was shot in the back, and it can’t erase the fundamental question. “When does suspicion become justification for execution?” That’s what this case feels like to many people watching from the outside. It feels like a child’s life was weighed against the imagined theft of bottled water, and the child lost. It feels like the old American disease again. Black children being aged up, criminalized, feared, pursued, and then blamed after they are dead.
We have seen this pattern before.
Trayvon Martin was followed and killed. Tamir Rice was seen as a threat within seconds. Jordan Davis was killed over loud music. Emmett Till was murdered behind a lie. Again and again, Black childhood have been denied the softness, patience, and benefit of the doubt routinely extended elsewhere. Cyrus Carmack-Belton deserved that benefit of the doubt. He deserved to make it home. He deserved adults who understood that no bottle of water, no suspicion, no bruised ego, and no store policy was worth a child’s life.
What makes this verdict so painful is not only that Chow was acquitted. It is that the acquittal sends a chilling message to Black families. Even when your child is running away, even when your child is shot in the back, even when the original accusation is wrong, justice may still look your grief in the face and say, “not guilty.”
That is more than a legal outcome. That is a wound. A wound that the mother’s of black children have had to endure for far too long. Some are saying that while the criminal case may be over, the moral case is not. To hell with morality. they are and continue to attack our children. I don’t want to hear about morality or any more teach your kids how to live better speeches. the line has been drawn in the sand.
The civil courts may still hear what the jury refused to fully reckon with. The community still has the right to protest. The family still has the right to demand answers. Advocates still have the responsibility to say Cyrus’ name and refuse to let this child be reduced to a defense argument. Cyrus was not a headline. He was not a talking point. He was not a symbol before someone made him one.
He was a 14-year-old boy, a son, a child, and a life still becoming. The question South Carolina must now answer is not simply how a jury reached this verdict. The deeper question is how a society keeps producing moments where armed adults chase children, shoot them in the back, and then ask the public to believe the adult was the one in danger. That part!
That question should haunt every parent, every prosecutor, every judge, every lawmaker, and every person who claims to believe that children matter. If Cyrus Carmack-Belton’s life can be taken under these circumstances and the law still finds no criminal accountability, then we are left with a terrible truth. The system did not just fail Cyrus after he died. It failed to see him as fully human while he was alive.
Cyrus Carmack-Belton. Fourteen years old. Shot in the back. Running away. No threat worth killing. No verdict strong enough to erase the truth. Black America we are out of options.
David B. Adams grew up in the Highlandtown section of Baltimore's southeast district and is his parent's youngest child. He experienced pervasive poverty, which taught him humility and compassion for the plight of others. His exposure to violence and gritty urban life were some of his early lessons of life's many hardships. Adams credits the upheavals he endured during his conformity with helping to shape the foundation of his outlook and perspectives on society.
With a steadfast commitment to giving voice to the voiceless, Adams is a journalist, crime writer, and blogger renowned for tireless investigative journalism and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations. As founder and administrator of The People's Champion, Adams sheds light on critical social issues, championing the rights of:
- Homeless individuals
- Victims of violent crime and their families
- Wrongfully convicted individuals
- Missing and exploited children; Additionally, he is
a seasoned investigative reporter, Adams has earned recognition for relentless pursuit of truth and justice. With a strong national and global focus, on inspiring meaningful change and crucial conversations impacting all of humanity.
I’m very angry today and I am certain that I am not alone. The problem is that my anger is two-fold. How does a store owner falsely acuse a 14-year-old kid of stealing bottles of water, chase him out the store off the property, shoots him in the back as he fled, and a jury in this country found the shooter “not guilty.” How doers that happen? Secondly, why is a 14-year-old walking around with a loaded gun?
Cyrus Carmack-Belton was only 14 years old. Fourteen! Old enough to be seen as a threat, but not old enough, apparently, to be seen as a child. He was old enough for suspicion to follow him out of a store, but not old enough for the justice system to protect the value of his life after he was shot in the back while running away. That is the outrage many within society posess at the center of this case.
A South Carolina jury has now acquitted Chikei “Rick” Chow, the store owner who shot and killed Cyrus in 2023 after falsely suspecting him of stealing bottled water. Let that sink in. A child was accused, chased, shot in the back, and now the man who pulled the trigger walks away from a murder charge. If this doesn’t anger you, than this should:
There were two prior Rick Chow shooting incidents reported by officials
1. May 4, 2015 — fired at a woman’s vehicle
Chow confronted a woman accused of taking two cases of Bud Light and boiled peanuts. After a struggle outside the store, she got into her vehicle. Chow reportedly pulled a .45 caliber Glock and fired about six shots at the passenger-side window. No one was injured.
2. October 12, 2018 — shot a shoplifter in the leg
Chow confronted a man accused of hiding a $6.49 can of oven cleaner in his clothes. Officials said the man assaulted Chow, and Chow fired twice, striking him in the leg. The shoplifter later pleaded guilty to charges from that incident.
Authorities said Chow was not charged in those earlier cases because investigators considered them self-defense under South Carolina law. But those incidents are important context to consider before understanding how Cyrus Carmack-Belton was killed, Chow had already used gunfire in shoplifting-related confrontations twice.
15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by Soon Ja Du in a California Korean store over a $2 bottle of juice in 1992.
There are moments when a verdict does more than decide a case. It reveals a culture. It exposes whose fear is treated as reasonable, whose child is treated as disposable, and whose grief is expected to quietly accept the language of “self-defense” even when the dead child was running away. Cyrus’ case is eerily similar to a 1992 case in California when a 15-year-old black girl was shot in the back over a $2 bottle of juice. The teen in that case had money in her hand, but Du, just like Chow was also acquitted.
It’s history repeating itself over and over again, but the victims in these cases remain the same. America has even brainwashed other non=whites who are’nt considered black, to believe that all black people are a threat. even our children. Cyrus Carmack-Belton was not killed during a violent robbery. He was not killed while attacking the store owner. He was not killed while advancing toward danger. Prosecutors said he was chased more than 130 yards from the store. They said he had been wrongly accused of stealing water. They said he was shot in the back.
The obvious detail that jumps out at you in this case is the kid was shot in the back. How can you justify shooting a person with their bacl to you. They are obviously not a threat. Hell, law enforcement can’t even shoot a person in the back based on most police use of force standards. Typically there arte very narrow exceptions why a cop can shoot a person in the back and be justified (only if a subject has just shot a policeman because they are deemed as the most dangerous to public safety, and in instances where an inmate is escaping from custody). That’s it. So how did Chow get away with this?
A shot in the back tells its own story. It tells us direction. It tells us distance. It tells us fear was moving away from the shooter, not toward him. Yet in America, especially when the child is Black, even retreat does not guarantee survival. Running away can still be turned into a threat, and in this case, it’s alleged that this kid pointed a gun at them (while fleeing?). Even when the facts are as ridiculous as this, childhood can still be put on trial, and just like in many other cases the dead can still be blamed for their own death.
Yes, much has been made of the allegation that Cyrus had a gun, and quite frankly, that element of this case doesn’t sit well with me. Why is a 14-year-old child walking the streets with a gun? That’s alarming, but it still doesn’t justify what happened to this child. It shouldn’t result in a death sentence. This fact does matter because no child should be walking around with a loaded weapon. Just like no responsible adult should ignore the deeper crisis that places guns in the hands of children. But Cyrus having a gun and only the allegation of the shooters that he pointed it at them, cannot become a permission slip to erase everything else.
It cannot erase the false accusation. It can’t erase the chase. It can’t erase the fact that Cyrus was off of their property. It can’t erase that he was shot in the back, and it can’t erase the fundamental question. “When does suspicion become justification for execution?” That’s what this case feels like to many people watching from the outside. It feels like a child’s life was weighed against the imagined theft of bottled water, and the child lost. It feels like the old American disease again. Black children being aged up, criminalized, feared, pursued, and then blamed after they are dead.
We have seen this pattern before.
Trayvon Martin was followed and killed. Tamir Rice was seen as a threat within seconds. Jordan Davis was killed over loud music. Emmett Till was murdered behind a lie. Again and again, Black childhood have been denied the softness, patience, and benefit of the doubt routinely extended elsewhere. Cyrus Carmack-Belton deserved that benefit of the doubt. He deserved to make it home. He deserved adults who understood that no bottle of water, no suspicion, no bruised ego, and no store policy was worth a child’s life.
What makes this verdict so painful is not only that Chow was acquitted. It is that the acquittal sends a chilling message to Black families. Even when your child is running away, even when your child is shot in the back, even when the original accusation is wrong, justice may still look your grief in the face and say, “not guilty.”
That is more than a legal outcome. That is a wound. A wound that the mother’s of black children have had to endure for far too long. Some are saying that while the criminal case may be over, the moral case is not. To hell with morality. they are and continue to attack our children. I don’t want to hear about morality or any more teach your kids how to live better speeches. the line has been drawn in the sand.
The civil courts may still hear what the jury refused to fully reckon with. The community still has the right to protest. The family still has the right to demand answers. Advocates still have the responsibility to say Cyrus’ name and refuse to let this child be reduced to a defense argument. Cyrus was not a headline. He was not a talking point. He was not a symbol before someone made him one.
He was a 14-year-old boy, a son, a child, and a life still becoming. The question South Carolina must now answer is not simply how a jury reached this verdict. The deeper question is how a society keeps producing moments where armed adults chase children, shoot them in the back, and then ask the public to believe the adult was the one in danger. That part!
That question should haunt every parent, every prosecutor, every judge, every lawmaker, and every person who claims to believe that children matter. If Cyrus Carmack-Belton’s life can be taken under these circumstances and the law still finds no criminal accountability, then we are left with a terrible truth. The system did not just fail Cyrus after he died. It failed to see him as fully human while he was alive.
Cyrus Carmack-Belton. Fourteen years old. Shot in the back. Running away. No threat worth killing. No verdict strong enough to erase the truth. Black America we are out of options.
David B. Adams grew up in the Highlandtown section of Baltimore's southeast district and is his parent's youngest child. He experienced pervasive poverty, which taught him humility and compassion for the plight of others. His exposure to violence and gritty urban life were some of his early lessons of life's many hardships. Adams credits the upheavals he endured during his conformity with helping to shape the foundation of his outlook and perspectives on society.
With a steadfast commitment to giving voice to the voiceless, Adams is a journalist, crime writer, and blogger renowned for tireless investigative journalism and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations. As founder and administrator of The People's Champion, Adams sheds light on critical social issues, championing the rights of:
- Homeless individuals
- Victims of violent crime and their families
- Wrongfully convicted individuals
- Missing and exploited children; Additionally, he is
a seasoned investigative reporter, Adams has earned recognition for relentless pursuit of truth and justice. With a strong national and global focus, on inspiring meaningful change and crucial conversations impacting all of humanity.
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