Former S.C. store owner appears in court over teen’s slaying

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - For the first time in months, a Columbia gas station owner accused of shooting and killing a 14-year-old in the back last year, was back in a Richland County courtroom.

Rick Chow, who owned the Shell gas station on Parklane Road in Columbia, is charged with the murder of Cyrus Carmack-Belton. The Richland County Sheriff’s Department accused him of falsely assuming the teen was shoplifting bottles of water from his store.

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Chow then chased the 14-year-old out of his store, then shot and killed him in the street.

Chow appeared in court on Tuesday afternoon for a Motion to Compel hearing as attorneys argued over evidence in the case.

Among the issues discussed were transferring digital links to discovering of one of Chow’s attorneys, who recently moved law firms.

Chow’s defense team also requested any information about the gun that was found near Carmack-Belton’s body, believing that it’s critical to their client’s case.

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From left: Devon Raye Brock and William Patrick Edward Barfield

Prosecutors said in court that the gun belongs to a federal defendant, and that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would not turn over other details about the gun, including where it was bought and whether it was stolen, due to the pending federal investigation.

Judge Robert Hood directed the state to draft an order that said the federal government has to turn that information over to both sides.

The judge also affirmed that Chow’s defense team received all unredacted data from several phone extractions in the case.