A Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charge for Subway Choker

NEW YORK— A judge overseeing the Daniel Penny case has dismissed manslaughter charges after the jury came back deadlocked.

Penny, the man who fatally choked Black subway busker, Jordan Neely, on the F train last May, is now facing the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. Penny has pleaded not guilty.

The jury began deliberating on Tuesday. On Friday, they sent two notes to the judge stating that they were unable to come to a unanimous decision on the second-degree manslaughter charge. The charge was then dropped by the judge, at the request of prosecutors.

30-year-old Neely was a unhoused busker who often impersonated Michael Jackson on the subway for tips. He suffered from mental illness and, on the day he encountered Penny, he was allegedly behaving erratically and ranting about being hungry.

Penny, a former Marine, grabbed Neely and put him in a fatal chock hold, which he says he did to protect the other passengers. After an autopsy of Nelly’s body, a city examiner would conclude he died from compression to his neck, caused by Penny’s chokehold.

If Penny is found guilty, the reduced charge comes with a maximum sentence of four years in prison. The jury will begin deliberating again on Monday.