Photo: Yuki Iwamura/AP Photo

On Monday, a Manhattan jury found Daniel Penny not guilty of killing Jordan Neely aboard a subway train last year. After deliberating for more than four days, jurors rejected the involuntary manslaughter charge after deadlocking on the involuntary manslaughter charge. The judge rejected the charges Friday because of the standoff. Penny is now a free man.

Jurors began deliberating last Tuesday, and in the days that followed, the anonymous jurors sent several notes requesting a repeat of testimony as well as videos of the evidence, including Penny’s interrogation and police body camera footage. On Friday, jurors said they were unable to reach a consensus on the second-degree manslaughter charge and asked the judge for further instructions because they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. Still unable to reach a verdict later in the day, Judge Maxwell Wiley asked that the involuntary manslaughter charge be dropped and directed the jury to continue deliberations on the remaining involuntary manslaughter charge on Monday.

In May 2023, Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, was seen screaming and acting erratically aboard a northbound F train. Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine, came up behind Neely, put him in a chokehold and, with the help of other passengers, restrained him. Video captured by a bystander in the subway car showed Penny holding Neely around the neck for several minutes and Neely struggling to free himself from his grasp. Neely was later taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. A medical examiner later concluded that Neely died of neck compression and ruled his death a homicide. Penny was indicted by a grand jury the following month on charges of second-degree manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.

The case quickly became a cultural flashpoint, touching on ongoing concerns about safety and crime on public transit, as well as rising homelessness across the city.

Prosecutors argued that Penny held the chokehold longer than necessary, alleging that the former Marine, trained in such maneuvers, held Neely for six minutes and did not let go, even as the train stopped at a station. “He used far too much violence for far too long. He went way too far,” prosecutor Dafna Yoran told the jury in her opening statement, according to the Associated Press.

The defense attested that Neely’s death was due to other factors, including his personal health and the “excitement” of the incident. Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said his client heard Penny say “I’m going to kill,” which prompted him to act. “When Jordan threatened to kill Neely, there was only one thing Daniel Penny could do,” he said, according to Gothamist.

The jury heard eyewitness accounts from passengers on the train that day, as well as testimony from one of Penny’s former Marine instructors and dueling medical experts’ views on the cause of Neely’s death. Penny did not testify in his defense on the witness stand.