Joan Bennett Kennedy, the former wife of the late Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, died Wednesday morning in her sleep at her home in Boston, according to her family. She was 89 years old.

The couple had three children together, Kara, Ted Jr., and former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy.

Her tumultuous marriage to Kennedy, which began in 1958 and ended in 1982, made her an international celebrity. Her life post-divorce as a music scholar and performer and advocate on issues of addiction and mental health cemented her status as an important figure in American life.

She was open and eloquent about her battles with alcoholism and depression in an era when celebrity confessionals were rare, and inspired the impactful post-politics career of her son Patrick, one of the nation’s premiere crusaders for mental health services.

“Besides being a loving mother, talented musician, and instrumental partner to my father as he launched his successful political career, Mom was a powerful example to millions of people with mental health conditions,” said Patrick in a statement Wednesday. “She will be missed not just by the entire Kennedy Family, but by the arts community in the City of Boston and the many people whose lives that she touched.”

The Kennedy family legacy

And for those to whom the story of the Kennedy family, for better or worse, remains an indelible part of American and Bostonian history, it is yet another reminder of what the Kennedy legacy was and how it has evolved over time.

The defeat of her late brother-in-law’s grandson Joe Kennedy III in his 2020 primary challenge to Sen. Ed Markey was the first time a Kennedy had ever lost an election in Massachusetts. Many factors played into that outcome, including voters’ judgment that Markey deserved re-election. But it was also a statement that many voters either no longer remembered the golden era of the Kennedy brothers’ rise to power and/or no longer valued the centrist progressivism espoused by young Joe. As Markey put it in a campaign video: “We asked what we could do for our country. We went out, we did it. With all due respect, it’s time to start asking what your country can do for you.”

And more recently, the bitter opposition of Joe, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, and other family members to the anti-vaccine advocacy and Trump embrace of Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. demonstrated the impermanence of the family’s principles.

Joan Kennedy with Ted Kennedy as he announced he was running for president at Faneuil Hall in Boston on November 7, 1979. Bettmann via Getty Images

Joan Kennedy was widely admired for her personal courage and professional accomplishments. Her passing is the latest reminder of the Kennedy family’s trajectory over the past 75 years or so, its ups and downs so closely tied to those of our nation’s politics and culture.

And it’s a reminder, too, of the wisdom of the Irish poet William Butler Yeats’s 106-year-old observation in “The Second Coming”: “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.”

A large study from Massachusetts found that babies whose mothers had COVID-19 while pregnant were slightly more likely to have a range of neurodevelopmental diagnoses by age 3. Most of these children had speech or motor delays, and the link was strongest when the mother was infected late in pregnancy and in boys.

The increase in risk was small for any one child, but because millions of women were pregnant during the pandemic, even a small increase matters. The study doesn’t prove that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy causes autism or other brain conditions in the fetus, but it suggests that infections and inflammation during pregnancy can affect how a baby’s brain grows, something scientists have seen before with other illnesses. It’s reason to help pregnant women avoid COVID-19 and to keep a close eye on children who were exposed in the womb.

What the study found

Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital examined medical records from more than 18,000 mothers and their children born between March 2020 and May 2021, before vaccines were widely available. Because everyone giving birth during that period was tested for COVID, the team could clearly see which pregnancies were exposed.

About 5% of those mothers had COVID while pregnant. Their children were modestly more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental condition by age 3 than those whose mothers weren’t infected, even after accounting for differences in maternal age, race, insurance status, and preterm birth.

The link appeared strongest when infection occurred in the third trimester and among boys. Still, the vast majority of children in both groups showed typical development.

“This was a very clean group to follow,” said Dr. Andrea Edlow, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist at Mass General and one of the study’s authors. “Because of universal testing early in the pandemic, we knew who had COVID and who didn’t.”

Experts say COVID, which causes a powerful immune response in some people, fits the biological pattern seen with other infections in pregnancy. Dr. Alan Brown, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at Columbia University, who studies maternal infection and brain development, explained, “COVID would be a very strong candidate for it to happen because the amount of inflammation is very extreme.”

How might infection affect brain development?

Scientists are still piecing together how various types of infections in pregnancy affect fetal development. Severe illness can cause inflammation that disrupts brain growth or trigger preterm birth, which carries its own risks.

“There’s a long history of evidence showing that maternal infection can slightly raise the risk for many neurodevelopmental disorders,” said Dr. Roy Perlis, the vice chair for research in psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and co-author of the new study.

Edlow’s lab is investigating how infection and inflammation may interfere with brain development. In a healthy brain, immune cells help shape developing neural circuits by trimming away extra or unnecessary connections, a process known as “synaptic pruning,” which sculpts the brain’s wiring. When a mother’s immune system is activated by infection, inflammatory molecules can reach the fetal brain and alter the pruning process.

Animal studies support Edlow’s hypothesis. When scientists trigger inflammation in pregnant mice, their offspring often show changes in how brain cells grow and connect, changes that can alter learning and behavior.

Why late pregnancy and why boys?

In Edlow and Perlis’ study, the link between COVID and developmental delays was strongest when infection occurred late in pregnancy, during the third trimester. That’s also when the fetal brain is growing most rapidly, forming and refining millions of neural connections.

“When we think of organ development, we think earlier in pregnancy, but the brain is an exception in this regard, where there’s a massive amount of brain development in the third trimester. And that continues after birth,” said Perlis. “It is entirely plausible that the third trimester is a period of vulnerability specifically for brain development.”

But not everyone agrees the third trimester is uniquely vulnerable. Dr. Brian Lee, a professor of epidemiology at Drexel University, cautioned that because most mothers in the study were tested at delivery, there were simply more late-pregnancy infections to analyze. “That gives the study more power to find a difference in the third trimester,” he said. “It doesn’t prove earlier infections aren’t important.”

The study also found stronger effects in boys. That pattern is familiar: boys are generally more likely than girls to have speech or motor delays and to be diagnosed with autism. Researchers suspect that male fetuses may be more sensitive to stress and inflammation before birth, though the biology isn’t fully understood.

What the study can and can’t show

Edlow and Perlis are careful to say the study shows an association, not proof that COVID infection in pregnancy causes developmental problems. Many other factors could explain the link.

Mothers who get sick with COVID may also have other health issues, like obesity, diabetes or mental health conditions, that increase the risk of developmental delays in children. “Persons with mental disorders are much more likely to get COVID. Women with mental disorders are much more likely to have kids with neurodevelopmental problems,” Lee said. “Mothers with worse physical health are also at higher risk of having children with neurodevelopmental problems.”

Lee’s research has shown that even infections before or after pregnancy can be linked to autism, suggesting that shared genetics or environment, rather than the infection itself, could be at play. That’s why experts say much larger, longer studies are needed to understand the extent of any risk from the infection.

Edlow, Perlis and their team plan to follow the children in their study as they grow older to see whether early differences persist or fade. They’re also studying how inflammation during pregnancy affects the placenta and fetal brain, and how to counteract those effects.

What about vaccination?

Because this study followed pregnancies from early in the pandemic, before vaccines were widely available, it doesn’t answer whether vaccination changes the risk. But other research offers reassurance.

A large national study in Scotland found no difference in early developmental outcomes between children whose mothers were vaccinated and those who weren’t. Another study in the U.S. found the same: no link between prenatal COVID vaccination and developmental delays through 18 months. Both align with decades of data showing that vaccination during pregnancy is safe for both the mother and the baby.

“Vaccination is a short spike… your immune system revs up, then it goes back to normal,” said Edlow. “COVID [infection] is much more prolonged, unpredictable, and people can get… a dysregulated immune phenomenon that really doesn’t exist in vaccine responses.”

What this means for parents and clinicians

Since late 2020, there’s been widespread confusion and misinformation about the safety of COVID vaccination during pregnancy. Some women have hesitated to get vaccinated out of fear it might harm their baby. But the evidence since then has been clear: the COVID vaccine is safe in pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists strongly recommends COVID vaccination to protect both mother and child.

Experts say the broader lesson is that pregnancy is a period of vulnerability, and prevention matters, not only for COVID, but other infections as well.

Dr. Janet Currie, a professor of economics at Yale University, said these risks remain “underappreciated,” despite decades of evidence. “Even though the flu vaccine is recommended for pregnant women, very few pregnant women get it,” she said. “Physicians seem to be reluctant to vaccinate pregnant women.”

As Dr. Gil Mor, scientific director of the C.S. Mott Center for Human Growth and Development at Wayne State University, put it, “Protecting the mother is protecting the long-term health of the offspring. … The best intervention is vaccination.”

A century-old echo

The idea that what happens in the womb can shape life after birth began with studies of famine, like the Dutch Hunger Winter in the final months of World War II. Between 1944 and 1945, as German forces blockaded the western Netherlands, rations fell to just a few hundred calories a day. Thousands died of starvation, and women who were pregnant during that period gave birth to babies who later faced higher risks of heart disease, diabetes and schizophrenia. The episode became a cornerstone of the “fetal origins” idea, that deprivation or stress in pregnancy can have lifelong effects.

The 1918 flu pandemic broadened that idea to infection. Babies exposed to influenza in utero later showed small but lasting differences in education and earnings, one of the first signs that illness during pregnancy could affect brain development. Research in Taiwan, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, and Japan found similar impacts. Some argued that those findings reflected the disruptions of World War I, not the flu itself. But later studies, including those from the United Kingdom and Finland, have strengthened the case for a biological effect, reinforcing that the infection itself, not wartime upheaval, was the key driver.

“It isn’t simply influenza that can alter fetal neurodevelopment,” Dr. Kristina Adams Waldorf, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at UW Medicine, explained. “Many types of infections… in the mother can be transmitted as a signal to the fetus, which can alter its brain development.”

A century later, the same question has returned with COVID: could infection during pregnancy subtly shape how children grow and learn? The new Massachusetts General Hospital study offers an early look at the answer.

S R Krishna Thalagavara

Beyond the universal challenges of uprooting and settling in a new place, Bangalore’s unique environment generates specific mental health challenges that we frequently observe.” — Dr. Krishna

BANGALORE, KARNATAKA, INDIA, October 7, 2025 / EINPresswire.com / — True excellence always deserves recognition! In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of psychiatry, Dr. S.R. Krishna Thalagavara has been honored with the prestigious 2025 ThreeBestRated® award. On this occasion, Dr. Krishna sat with the ThreeBestRatedteam for an interview, where he shared valuable insights, particularly regarding the prevailing mental health challenges that Bangalore is facing today.Emerging Mental Health Challenges in BangaloreSpeaking of the city’s rapid growth, Dr. Krishna highlighted how Bangalore’s unique urban environment is accelerating a silent mental health crisis, which is often overlooked despite the city’s flourishing opportunities.“Beyond the universal challenges of uprooting and settling in a new place, which any global study confirms, Bangalore’s unique environment generates specific mental health challenges that we frequently observe,” says Dr. Krishna.Dr. Krishna points out some of the factors that cause mental health issues in Bangalore.1. The “Commute Creep” and Isolation“The severe traffic congestion and deteriorating road conditions are perhaps the single biggest stressors.”People spend a disproportionate amount of time commuting, leaving limited time for family and children. And the impact? This lack of meaningful connection and quality time contributes directly to feelings of isolation and loneliness, even in a densely populated urban environment. For families where both parents are working to manage humongous bills (housing, education, etc.), the stress levels skyrocket.2. The Vicious Cycle of Stress and Unhealthy HabitsThe constant, high-level stress acts as a catalyst for unhealthy lifestyle changes, creating a negative feedback loop.>> Lifestyle Decay: High stress leads to an unhealthy lifestyle, characterized by poor sleep, hurried or skipped meals, and decreased physical activity.>> Coping Mechanisms: To cope with the overwhelming pressure, people often rely on external, temporary fixes. “We see a growing dependency on readily available but unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as constantly ordering food outside and increasing reliance on substances like alcohol and weed to “feel better” or unwind. These habits only mask the underlying anxiety and depressive symptoms.”In essence, the economic opportunity that draws people to Bangalore often comes with a hidden cost: the breakdown of personal time, routine, and core relationships, which fundamentally undermines mental well-being.Subtle Signs of Depression Everyone Should Watch ForDepression and mental health issues often go undiagnosed due to social stigma and lack of awareness. “Society has taught us to be good at hiding them. However, it is so common nowadays. Accepting that one in four people may face a mental health challenge at some point is the first step toward reducing stigma,” says Dr. Krishna.Depression doesn’t always manifest as sadness. There are many subtle and hidden signs that one should never ignore.>> Appearance & Self-Care: A sudden decline in self-care and hygiene. For example, neglecting showers, not shaving, or wearing the same clothes repeatedly can be early and subtle indicators of depression.>> Routines (Sleep & Appetite): Significant, abrupt changes in daily habits including sleep and eating can signal mental health struggles. Individuals can sleep much more (hypersomnia) or much less (insomnia) than usual, or feel sudden changes in appetite, either eating significantly less or more than normal.>> Behaviour & Interactions: A person struggling with depression may show noticeable changes in how they interact with others. This can include gradual withdrawal from social settings, cancelling meetings & plans frequently, constantly checking on things, and asking for frequent reassurance to make minor decisions.>> Emotional Signs: As mentioned before, depression doesn’t have to show as sadness. It can also appear as irritability, anger, or frustration over minor issues. People may snap easily, have a shorter temper, or experience increased crying or sometimes showcase the inability to cry at all.>> Cognitive Changes: Excessive self-criticism, dwelling on past failures, expressing feelings of worthlessness, or making indirect references to suicide or “ending it all” are other red flags that should be taken very seriously.“The key is to look for a sustained change from a person’s normal baseline, not just a bad day or two. If these subtle changes persist for more than a couple of weeks, it is time to gently check in and provide the much-needed support.”Recognising these early indicators promises timely support and proper treatment. In Bangalore, Dr. Krishna Thalagavara and his dedicated team at Kriteyu Health Care Pvt. Ltd. are emerging as a go-to destination for people coping with depression and other mental health-related issues.About Dr. S R Krishna ThalagavaraDr. S R Krishna Thalagavara’s journey into psychiatry is not accidental. Witnessing his own mother’s struggles with mental health issues, he wished to dedicate his life to helping individuals find a better life. From a young age, he recognised how care, compassion and support could change one’s life. And his mother’s resilience further taught him that mental health goes beyond just treating symptoms; it is about genuine empathy and true understanding. This personal experience has shaped his journey, rooted in compassionate and personalised care.Under Dr. Krishna Thalagavara’s supervision and leadership, Kriteyu Health Care Pvt. Ltd. is better equipped to treat and address the growing mental health concerns of Bangalore. Kriteyu means ‘forever’ or ‘eternal’. The team is on a mission to empower every individual with the right tools to improve their emotional well-being, manage stress factors and lead a fulfilling life forever. Their approach treats mind, body, and environment holistically, rather than just offering a quick fix.Kriteyu Health Care treats a wide range of conditions, including anxiety disorders, mood disorders, phobias, sleep disorders, OCD, Autism and ADHD. They work with adults, elderly individuals, and children in Bangalore and across India. For individuals seeking compassionate and expert care, visit kriteyuhealthcare.com to schedule a consultation with the team.

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Only about a fourth of moms in the United States say they have “excellent” physical and mental health, according to a new study.

The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine, looked at 198, 417 mothers with children age 17 and under, finding large declines in self-reported maternal mental health and small declines in physical health from 2016 to 2023.

The health outcomes were measured on a four-point scale, including excellent, very good, good and fair/poor.

Within the time frame studied, the prevalence of “excellent” mental health declined from 38.4% to 25.8%. “Good” mental health rose from 18.8% to 26.1%, and “fair/poor” mental health rose from 5.5% to 8.5%.

Prevalence of “excellent” physical health declined from 28.0% to 23.9%. “Good” physical health rose from 24.3% to 28.1% while “fair/poor” physical health didn’t change significantly, the study found.

“Mental health declines occurred across all socioeconomic subgroups; however, mental and physical health status was significantly lower for single female parents, those with lower educational attainment, and those with publicly insured children,” the authors noted.

The study also looked at changes among male parents, finding declines in both “excellent” physical and mental health within the same eight-year study period — but overall, they still had better health scores than their female counterparts.

In 2023, for example, the prevalence of “fair/poor” mental health was 4 percentage points higher among female parents compared to male parents.

This isn’t the first time parental mental health has been put in the spotlight. Last year, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for changes to national attitudes toward parenting and caregiving in an advisory titled “Parents Under Pressure.”

“The work of parenting is essential not only for the health of children but also for the health of society. Additionally, we know that the well-being of parents and caregivers is directly linked to the well-being of their children,” Murthy wrote in the advisory, highlighting his own experience raising children.

As the study authors note, their findings are consistent with documented increases in depression and anxiety among pregnant and reproductive-aged women, as well as the general U.S. adult population.

“Our findings are supportive of the claim made by some scholars that maternal mortality may be a canary in the coal mine for women’s health more broadly,” they wrote.

Though more research is needed to identify the specific causes of declining mental health, the authors said leading theories include limited access to mental health care, social isolation, rising substance use disorders as well as broader stressors, from inflation and racism to gun violence and climate change.

NEW YORK — Daniel Penny was found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York City subway car in 2023.

Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran, had pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.

The judge dismissed the manslaughter charge on Friday after jurors said they could not come to a unanimous decision. The jury could only consider the negligent homicide charge if Penny was cleared of manslaughter.

Word of the verdict came after jurors deliberated for more than 20 hours. Penny appeared to smile, as his attorneys hugged each other.

“We couldn’t be more pleased that a jury of Danny’s peers acquitted him of any wrongdoing. And now New Yorkers can take some comfort in knowing that we can continue to stand up for one another without sacrificing our rights or our freedoms,” his lawyers said in a statement.

Photo shows Daniel Penny and his lawyers after the 26-year-old Marine veteran was acquitted in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely. Kenniffthelawyer/Instagram

His attorneys later shared a photo on social media showing them raise a glass at a bar after the verdict.

CBS News New York’s Alice Gainer was inside the courtroom when the decision came down. She reported it was chaos, as some cheered in support of Penny, and Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, had to leave the room because he stood up and was heard swearing.

Zachery told CBS News New York, “My son didn’t have to go through this. I didn’t have to go through this, either. It hurts. It really, really hurts,” adding, “What’s going to happen to us now? Had enough of this. System is rigged. Come on, people. Let’s do something about this.”

Penny faced a maximum possible sentence of 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge, or four years on the negligent homicide charge. There was no minimum sentence.

Protests outside courthouse over Daniel Penny verdict

Protesters lined up outside the courthouse Monday, chanting “Justice for Jordan Neely!” Inside, Penny’s defense team asked for a mistrial and once again was denied.

The defense also raised concerns that jurors could potentially hear some of what the demonstrators were saying. They said the demonstrators were using megaphones and bullhorns, chanting things like, “Murdered!” and “Subway strangler!”

The judge agreed he also heard the commotion and reminded the jury to ignore things they may hear or read about the case.

One activist who had been outside demonstrating every morning was inside and yelled something at Penny along the lines of “It’s a small world, buddy.”

“Our call to action is to take care of each other. We can’t rely on outside people. If we see someone asking for food, we have to take the responsibility to give it to them. If we see someone cold, to give them a coat. If we see someone going through something, to ask them if they’re OK,” Donte Mills, attorney for the Neely family, said during a news conference outside the courthouse. “That’s how we help each other, because we can’t rely on the system to do it for us.”

Eric Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, also spoke outside the courthouse, saying, “No one deserves to be choked to death,” adding, “I tell this family, do not give up, because that’s what they want you to do. They want to discourage you, just like they tried to discourage me. Ten years later, I’m still fighting.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke at Neely’s funeral, put out a statement, which read, in part, “This verdict represents the blatant legalization of civilian vigilantism, sending a dangerous message that citizens can now take matters into their own hands, even if it leads to someone’s death.”

“It was foolish of us to think that a Black man would get justice in a system that is designed to keep him oppressed,” added Chivona Newsome, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Greater New York.

Manhattan district attorney responds with statement

The verdict drew praise from Vice President-elect JD Vance and New York Congressman Mike Lawler, who both criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for prosecuting Penny.

Bragg released a statement following the verdict, saying:

“As with every case, we followed the facts and the evidence from beginning to end. A Grand Jury voted to indict, and the Office carefully presented this case to a trial jury.

“Over the course of the trial, we introduced medical records, videos, bodycam footage, and testimony from over 30 witnesses, including from the City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

“The jury carefully deliberated for four days. They requested readbacks of testimony and asked for video footage to re-watch, as well as written definitions of the law. Their lengthy deliberation – and the totality of the facts and the evidence — underscored why this case was put in front of a jury of Mr. Penny’s peers.

“The jury has now spoken. At the Manhattan D.A.’s Office we deeply respect the jury process and we respect their verdict.

“Unfortunately, over the duration of this trial, talented career prosecutors and their family members were besieged with hate and threats — on social media, by phone and over email. Simply put, this is unacceptable, and everyone, no matter your opinion on this case, should condemn it. These are prosecutors who have dedicated decades of their lives to public service and to the safety of Manhattan. I am grateful to them, as well as to the NYPD for their hard work and commitment on not only this matter, but for all they do on behalf of New Yorkers. I also want to thank Judge Wiley for presiding over this case. Finally, I want to thank the members of the jury who took time out of their lives to diligently evaluate the evidence.”

NYC mayor asked what verdict means for city

Mayor Eric Adams was asked by reporters if he thinks the verdict says anything about the mood of the city, and if he feels like it could open the door for more of these interactions of people exacting their own justice.

“Good question. And I’ll answer the latter first. Of what you see, of what people often do, a lot of people make interpretations, you know, about trials, but juries are in the courtroom. They’re hearing every piece of evidence, they are hearing the testimonies. They have to make the decision. And that’s the system that we have,” he replied. “And actually, it is probably one of the best systems on the globe. And I think the jury’s heard the evidence and made a determination based on the evidence that they heard. And the … does it impact what’s going to happen throughout the city that people are not going to take action or going to take action? I don’t think it does.

“I think that oftentimes people make these decisions when they are in the midst of it. And there’s a desire of New Yorkers to help out those who are in need. There’s a desire of New Yorkers is to always respond when they believe it’s necessary. And I don’t think that is going to change in any way. This is not the first time, and I’m sure it’s not going to be the last time that individuals take actions and people are going to question about those actions that happened.

“But at the cornerstone and at the heart of this is that, of this young man, like so many others that are on our subway systems, I made it clear that’s not a place to sleep, to live. That’s not a place to be. And when they need help, we need to give them the help of that they have.”

About the charges

In order to be convicted of manslaughter, prosecutors had to prove:

Penny caused Neely’s death

That he did so recklessly

That he was not justified

In order to be convicted of criminally negligent homicide, prosecutors had to prove:

Penny caused Neely’s death

That he did so with criminal negligence

That he was not justified

The death of Jordan Neely

Police and witnesses said Neely, 30, boarded an F train in SoHo on May 1, 2023 and began shouting, throwing things and making threats. Penny, a passenger on the train, approached Neely from behind and tried to restrain him.

Video shows Penny holding Neely in a chokehold on the floor of the train for several minutes until Neely stopped moving. After police arrived, officers administered Narcan to Neely, performed CPR and used an AED, but were unable to revive him. Neely was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said Neely did not have any weapons on him.

Jordan Neely The Neely Family

A medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide three days later, with the cause as compression of the neck. Toxicology reports showed Neely had synthetic marijuana in his system when he died.

Neely was a street performer and Michael Jackson impersonator who was experiencing homelessness and had struggled with mental illness after his mother was murdered in 2007.

Video of Penny holding Neely in the chokehold was widely circulated online. Neely’s death sparked protests across New York City, with many raising concerns about the need for better mental health care in the city, and Neely’s family called for Penny’s arrest.

Penny turned himself in on May 12, 2023, and was initially charged with second-degree manslaughter and released on $100,000 bail. He was arraigned in June and pleaded not guilty to criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter.

Penny defended his actions, saying he was trying to protect other passengers on the train by restraining Neely.

NYC subway chokehold death trial

In late October 2024, a 12-person jury and four alternates were selected and sworn in. They included seven women and five men, with at least seven White people, one Hispanic person, one Filipino person, one Black person and one person of Middle Eastern descent.

The trial began Nov. 1.

The prosecution argued in their opening statements that Penny, though he had good intentions, recklessly used excessive force without trying any other means of deescalating the situation. The defense, meanwhile, argued Penny was protecting other passengers and there was no other way to deescalate due to Neely’s behavior.

Jurors heard testimony from multiple witnesses, including police officers, MTA employees, passengers on the train and a bystander who helped Penny restrain Neely. Penny’s Marine Corps martial arts instructor and the medical examiner who performed Neely’s autopsy also took the stand. The defense called Penny’s mother and platoon sergeants as character witnesses, along with a forensic pathologist who said he disagreed with the medical examiner’s cause of death.

Jurors began their deliberations last Tuesday. They sent two notes back to the judge. The first requested a readback of part of the judge’s instructions. The second note asked the judge if they could return for deliberations Wednesday, which is a day they would normally have had off. The judge approved that request.

Wednesday morning, jurors sent another note, asking to see a video compilation of police bodycams from the incident, as well as footage of Penny’s police station interview. Jurors also asked for readback of the medical examiner’s cross-examination.

Friday morning, on the fourth day of deliberations, they sent a note to the judge indicating they couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on his manslaughter charge.