Former US Marine Daniel Penny has been acquitted of a homicide charge for putting a homeless man in a fatal chokehold, a case that sparked weeks of protests and reignited debates over race, mental illness, and public safety.
Jurors deliberated for five days before declaring Mr Penny not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely on a New York City train on 1 May, 2023.
The verdict comes after prosecutors agreed to drop a more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter on Friday, as jurors could not reach an agreement.
The move allowed the jurors to move on to consider the second lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
The verdict, announced on Monday, was met with loud applause in the Manhattan courtroom. Mr Penny appeared to smile while his attorneys hugged.
Mr Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, was removed from the courtroom for yelling after the verdict. Chants of “no justice, no peace,” could be heard echoing from outside.
“It hurts. It really, really hurts,” Mr Zachery said in front of the courtroom after the verdict. “What’s gonna happen to us now? I’ve had enough of this.”
Mr Neely’s death sparked protests across the city and reignited debates over public transportation safety and how the city cares for its residents who struggle with mental health issues and homelessness.
“Jordan Neely was murdered,” Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York, wrote on X after his death, adding, “he was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services”.
But some conservatives, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, applauded Mr Penny’s actions, saying he had stepped in to keep he public safe.
“We stand with Good Samaritans like Daniel Penny,” he said in May.
On Monday, following the verdict, Vice-president-elect JD Vance wrote on X “it was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place”.
“Thank God justice was done in this case,” he said.
Last spring, witnesses said that Mr Neely – who suffered from severe mental illnesses – began shouting at other subway passengers, asking for money and screaming that he was hungry and wanted to go back to jail.
Prosecutors said Mr Penny placed Mr Neely in a chokehold for six minutes, compressing his neck even after he stopped moving. They argued that the former Marine acted “recklessly” by restraining Mr Neely for several minutes even after he lost consciousness.
Mr Penny’s legal team argued that he had stepped in after Mr Neely began screaming and threatening passengers. They also cited testimony from a forensic pathologist who said Mr Neely could have died from other contributing factors.
A medical examiner ruled Mr Neely’s cause of death as compression to the neck.
Mr Neely was a Michael Jackson impersonator who performed in Times Square and was known throughout the city.
He had dozens of previous arrests on charges such as evading fares, theft and assaults on three women.
Family members say he had mental health issues that began more than 15 years earlier, when his mother was strangled to death by her boyfriend.
The manslaughter charge against Mr Penny would have carried a 15-year maximum sentence, while the negligent homicide charge has a four-year-maximum.
