COLUMBIA, S.C. — Funeral arrangements have been set for Cyrus Carmack-Belton, the Columbia 14-year-old who investigators say was shot and killed by a South Carolina gas station owner.
According to Leevy's Funeral Home, a visitation will take place for Belton at their location at 1831 Taylor Street on Friday, June 2 from 3-6 p.m. The funeral will happen Saturday, June 3 at Second Nazareth Baptist Church at 2300 Elmwood Avenue in Columbia. The service is set to begin at noon.
Carmack-Belton was shot to death on Sunday, May 28 along Springtree Drive in Columbia.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says around 8 p.m. that night, Carmack-Belton was inside the Shell Gas station at 7441 Parklane Road when the store owner, 58-year-old Rick Chow, accused the teen of shoplifting bottles of water. But Lott said that wasn't true---Carmack-Belton actually had only touched the bottles and then put them back in the cooler.
Carmack-Belton then left the store, investigators say, and Chow's son began chasing after him. Chow is accused of joining in the chase while armed with a pistol.
The chase went near apartments on Springtree Drive, where the victim tripped and fell, but Lott said he then got back up. The son then told his father the teen had a gun, and a few moments later, Lott said Chow shot Carmack-Belton in the back.
Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford said the gunshot wound caused injuries to the teen's heart.
The sheriff said while they did find a gun near the teen's body they determined the gun was not pointed at the men and that the teen was shot as he had his back turned.
After an investigation deputies charged Chow with murder the day after the shooting. Chow is currently being detained at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia.
Since the shooting there has been an outpouring of outrage in the community about the killing. Protestors showed up at the gas station Monday to protest. That night, however, some people showed up and broke the glass of the store and began taking items from inside.
Lott was quick to differentiate the people who vandalized the store from the protestors, saying they were a different group of people who arrived. He vowed to arrest the people responsible.
U.S. Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina said he was "horrified" by the shooting.
“This tragedy should have never happened," he wrote in a statement. "The criminalization of Black men and boys and the historic trend of painting them as aggressors have time and again led to deadly and heartbreaking circumstances."