COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A former Columbia gas station owner accused of killing a 14-year-old appeared before a judge Monday, arguing that he shot in self-defense.

Rick Chow is accused of chasing Cyrus Carmack-Belton from his gas station and convenience store on Parklane Road in May 2023 before shooting him in the back. Chow and his attorneys are arguing in a pretrial hearing that he should be immune from prosecution under South Carolina’s Stand Your Ground law.

The defense requested the hearing to argue that Chow’s actions that night were justified because he and his son feared for their safety. The state suggested that the Chows treated Carmack-Belton differently from the second he stepped foot in the store and none of this would have happened had they not chased him the length of a foot

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