Cyrus Carmack-Belton Was 14. He Ran Away. He Was Shot In The Back. The Jury Said Not Guilty.

On May 28, 2023, a 14-year-old Black boy named Cyrus Carmack-Belton was shot in the back outside a Shell gas station in Columbia, South Carolina. Surveillance video showed he had not stolen anything. Witnesses described him running away in fear. He was chased more than 130 yards from the store by a 61-year-old store owner and his adult son before being shot once in the back. He died from that wound.

On June 1, 2026 — three years later — a jury acquitted Rick Chow of murder. Not guilty. The family's statement said: 'A jury watched our 14-year-old boy run away from two grown men on video. They knew one of them shot him in the back and they still said no one is to blame.'

In this episode of Past Present Pushback, XO, AZ, and CDA sit with the full weight of this verdict — and name the pattern it belongs to. Trayvon Martin. Jordan Davis. Ahmaud Arbery. And now Cyrus. The data on Stand Your Ground laws and racial disparities. The psychology of racial threat perception. The role of the jury. What the civil lawsuit means. What the federal review means. And the hardest question of all — what do we do? What do we actually do? Because grief without action is just grief.

Keywords: Cyrus Carmack-Belton case, Rick Chow not guilty verdict, Stand Your Ground racial bias, Black victims self defense law, Trayvon Martin Ahmaud Arbery pattern, racial disparities criminal justice, Black children killed America, how to fight back justice system, Past Present Pushback podcast