The family of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a Columbia 14-year-old shot and killed outside a gas station over Memorial Day weekend, will pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the alleged shooter, store owner Rick Chow.
The family’s attorney, Todd Rutherford, confirmed Tuesday that Carmack-Belton’s family plans to ask for a civil jury trial and seek damages against Chow.
“The family is going to exercise all of their rights to make sure they get justice for Cyrus,” Rutherford said.
Chow, 58, is accused of fatally shooting Carmack-Belton in the back after an apparent argument between the two inside Chow’s Parklane Road convenience store May 28. Chow accused Carmack-Belton of shoplifting, which the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said there is no evidence of.
Chow is currently facing criminal murder charges. The family’s civil suit would be in addition to the criminal charges.
Rutherford could not say when the case would make it to court, if it does, but said the family is beginning the process.
“It’s an arduous journey, which is very tough for the family to have to deal with during the loss of a child,” Rutherford said.
Sheriff Leon Lott previously said Carmack-Belton at one point removed four water bottles from a cooler inside Chow’s store but put them back. An argument started inside the store, the sheriff said, and the 14-year-old ran out. Chow and his son chased after the teen, and Chow was armed with a pistol, the sheriff said.
During the chase, Carmack-Belton fell down and got back up. At that point, Chow shot the teen in the back, Lott said.
“Even if (Carmack-Belton) had shoplifted four bottles of water, which is what he initially took out of the cooler and then he put them back, even if he had done that, that’s not something you shoot anybody over, much less a 14-year-old,” Lott previously said. “You just don’t do that.”
Following Carmack-Belton’s death, The State requested incident reports taken at the Parklane Road Shell gas station owned by Chow.
The Richland County Sheriff’s Department provided reports for 55 calls for service at that address during that period. The reported incidents included 15 thefts over a roughly three-year period, an average of about one every 83 days, or just over four thefts per year. Of those reports, none involved a situation in which Chow or his employees were threatened with a gun. One report detailed a physical assault on Chow and his family in late 2022.
Chow has been charged with murder and has been held at the Alvin S. Glenn detention center since May 29.
Chow is now awaiting a bond hearing. A hearing had been scheduled for June 30 but was canceled because Chow’s attorney, Jack Swerling, was representing another client, Greg Leon, in a murder trial. A new hearing date for Chow has not yet been publicized.