SHOULD RICK CHOW GET THE DEATH PENALTY FOR CHASING DOWN 14 YEAR OLD BLK BOY?

Ajouté : 2026-05-30

[00:00:01]OGTV45 tapping in. And today I brought my co-host with me, y'all. This is my little cousin, Ona Wa. And she's >> Wa.

[00:00:12]>> Ona Wa.

[00:00:12]>> Yeah.

[00:00:13]>> Okay, I'm just getting used to that name because that is her indigenous name. She is here to speak on behalf of and represent the O.J. Simpson Indians.

[00:00:22]>> Okay.

[00:00:23]>> Okay, we were just sitting here watching a live trial of what's the young man's name again?

[00:00:29]>> Uh Cyrus um Carmac Belton.

[00:00:32]>> Syrus Carmac Belton.

[00:00:35]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:00:36]>> He was a 14-year-old boy who was gunned down and had his life taken away from an Asian store owner here in Columbia, South Carolina.

[00:00:44]>> The trial of Columbia convenience store owner Rick Chow beginning this morning.

[00:00:49]Chow is accused of shooting and killing 14-year-old Cyrus Carmac Belton. That happened in 2023.

[00:00:57]>> The teen's death gaining national headlines and sparking civil rights protests across the city. ABC Columbia's Lee Williams now with more from today's opening statements.

[00:01:06]>> There's been a lot of public outcry for justice in this case.

[00:01:09]They've already had to replace the jury once.

[00:01:13]And what saddened me most about the case is the brother that's that's representing the defense. He's actually second chair. He's a very popular attorney down here by the name of Jack Swirling. You know, he's very expensive, very popular attorney, high-profile lawyer.

[00:01:28]So in the second chair for him is a black guy by the name of Shawn Kent.

[00:01:33]Now I've always thought a man who's willing to do anything for money is not a man.

[00:01:39]You have to have boundaries. You have to have places that you should not willing to go no matter what somebody is paying you.

[00:01:48]Now when it comes to Jack Swirling, he's been around for a long time.

[00:01:53]I'm talking about I remember when I I running the streets in South Carolina in He was the go-to man for all the dope boys and everybody who called a body was going straight to Jack Swerling.

[00:02:04]So, now you got this other brother up here fighting with everything he got to get justice for the family of this young boy whose life was taken away from him by this Asian store owner in a black neighborhood, mind you.

[00:02:21]And then here comes this other brother for the check >> [snorts] >> cuz he got to get that bag.

[00:02:29]He's going to sit there and go against the entirety of the community and try his hardest. He's trying to make witnesses look out to be guilty.

[00:02:38]It's like you're doing everything in your power to get this guy off and I understand that's your job. I understand that's your profession.

[00:02:46]But what are you not willing to do for money?

[00:02:50]>> Prosecutor Byron Gibson telling the 12 jurors that 14-year-old Carmack Belton was killed with malice, falsely accused of shoplifting from Cho's store. But defense attorney Jack Swerling painted a different picture saying Cho only fired his weapon to save his son Andy's life.

[00:03:04]>> In what world do you get to falsely accuse a 14-year-old of stealing?

[00:03:10]Chase a 14-year-old 130 plus yards down a road while you're armed with a pistol, shoot that person in the back, then claim you're defending yourself.

[00:03:22]>> They did find a firearm on the boy after he was shot in the back.

[00:03:27]>> It disturb me the fact that I'm watching the Rick Cho case and how many white people are defending Rick Cho for unaliving the young man.

[00:03:38]And the reason they defending him is because they said the young man had a loaded gun.

[00:03:45]I want to remind y'all that if Rick Cho never chased the young man no one would never knew he had loaded gun.

[00:03:56]Mind y'all, once again, he didn't steal nothing.

[00:04:01]Which y'all got all the surveillance.

[00:04:03]His wife followed him throughout the store.

[00:04:08]What what what's going on in society like y'all rather see a young black man be deceased than to defend what's right.

[00:04:19]Go in and read the comments.

[00:04:22]I know racism is real in the United States, but to see it first hand is like mind-blowing.

[00:04:32]>> Now, the defense is trying to make it seem as though you know, he shot the boy in self-defense, but it seems more so to someone with common sense.

[00:04:42]The boy went to get the four bottles of water, realized he didn't have his money, he put the four bottles of water back.

[00:04:48]He turns around to walk out the store, and the people approach him.

[00:04:53]My mind is telling me he's nervous cuz he got a firearm on him.

[00:04:56]>> Exactly.

[00:04:57]>> He doesn't want these adults to catch him with a firearm and him to get in trouble for that. So, he took off running.

[00:05:06]And the guy shoots him in his back and takes his life.

[00:05:10]And Jack Swirling opposed him arguing his case himself.

[00:05:16]He takes a C-double-O in and puts him up there.

[00:05:19]>> Mr. Shawn Kemp.

[00:05:20]>> Mr. Shawn Kemp to have him badgering the black witnesses and trying to get them to double-talk themselves and whatnot on cross-examination and really trying to get this man off when the entire community watched this man take this child's life.

[00:05:36]>> In May of 2023, attorneys say Carmack Belton entered the store wearing a red hoodie and carrying a backpack. The teenager leaving his backpack near the door as part of of store's no bag, no weapon policy. Gibson says security footage shows Carmack Belton pick up four water bottles and then put them back, with Gibson saying the child was watching him suspiciously.

[00:05:55]>> Accusing him of stealing water.

[00:05:57]>> Attorneys say he then left the store and ran. Chow and his adult son Andy chasing him over 130 yards before the deadly altercation occurred. Chow taking his registered gun with him, 14-year-old Carmack Belton also having a semi-automatic gun in his pocket, both according to attorney.

[00:06:14]>> I'll have more on this trial in the days to come, but for now at the Richland County Courthouse on Main Street, I'm Lee Williams, ABC Columbia News.