Daniel Penny, the young veteran whose actions around the death of a disturbed homeless man put him in the crosshairs of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, was found not guilty on criminally negligent homicide charges in a unanimous verdict by the jury on Monday.

Judge Wiley and Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran sat dumbfounded at the New York jurists announced their agreement that Penny, 28, did not contribute to the death of Jordan Neely, a mentally ill man who physically threatened subway passengers during a manic episode in 2023. After intervening to prevent Neely from striking a passenger, Penny placed Neely in a chokehold while the train came to a stop and fellow riders evacuated. Neely stopped breathing and was later pronounced dead, and multiple toxicologists testified that a slew of drugs found in his system were more likely responsible for his death.

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The decision comes one business day after the 12-member jury failed for hours to reach a decision on the first count of manslaughter. After the foreman told Judge Wiley that the body was at an impasse, Wiley instructed jurors to continue deliberating. They did so for the remainder of Friday afternoon but emerged at the end of the day without a verdict, leading Wiley to instruct jurors to move on to the second count, criminally negligent homicide.

On Monday, sporadic applause burst through in the courtroom as not-guilty pleas were read off.