Jury acquits Penny in New York City subway chokehold death

A New York City jury on Monday morning acquits Daniel Penny in the 2023 death of a passenger on the metropolitan subway system.

The jury found the former Marine not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, according to NBC News.

The jury of five men and seven women made the decision on the fifth day of deliberation. Jurors deadlocked Friday on the more serious charge of manslaughter, leading the judge to dismiss it.

The final moments of Penny, 26, trying to subdue Neely on a New York City subway train on May 1, 2023, were captured on bystander video that went viral. 

Neely had been shouting and acting erratically when he boarded a train. Penny placed him in a chokehold that prosecutors said lasted almost six minutes. 

Jurors were told before they began deliberating that they had to reach an unanimous decision on the top charge of manslaughter in the second degree before considering the charge of criminally negligent homicide. But the judge changed the order Friday after jurors twice sent a note saying they could not reach an agreement, NBC also reports.