Daniel Penny is a US military Marine veteran and Long Island native, who has been acquitted of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely.
Penny secured the acquisition as a Manhattan jury found him not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Neely on a New York City subway last year.
The jury, made up of seven women and five men, delivered the verdict after previously deadlocking on the more serious charge of manslaughter.
The verdict comes after days of deliberations. Normally, the homicide carries a possible sentence of up to four years in prison.
Thirty-year-old Neely, a fellow subway passenger, was a homeless man who had a history of mental illness in New York.
In some cases along political and racial lines, the homicide case separated people in New York. Daniel Penny is white while Jordan Neely was Black. Neely was also a former Michael Jackson impersonator.
Some people observed Penny as callous and his actions as criminal on the day.
On May 1, 2023, Penny faced Neely, who boarded a subway train in Manhattan and had been shouting and acting unpredictably.
Many others think that Penny was unselfish in his attempt to protect fellow passengers.
Neely has died from compression to his neck as a result of the chokehold, according to a New York City medical examiner.
