NEW YORK — The judge overseeing the trial of a man accused of using a deadly chokehold on an unruly subway passenger dismissed the top charge in the case Friday at the request of prosecutors, allowing jurors to consider a lesser count after they said they were deadlocked on whether Daniel Penny was guilty of manslaughter.

The decision from Judge Maxwell Wiley will allow jurors to deliberate a charge of criminally negligent homicide, which would carry a lighter punishment.

The judge’s decision came hours after Manhattan jurors sent him a note saying they were unable to agree on a manslaughter verdict. Jurors had previously been instructed that they needed to reach a verdict on the top charge before they could consider the criminally negligent homicide charge.

The jurors have been deliberating since Tuesday on whether to convict Penny in the death of Jordan Neely. Penny, a former U.S. Marine, placed Neely in a chokehold for about six minutes on a New York City subway in 2023 after Neely got on the car yelling and asking people for money.

Manslaughter requires proving a defendant recklessly caused another person’s death, and carries up to 15 years. Criminally negligent homicide, which carries punishments ranging from probation to up to four years in prison, involves engaging in serious “blameworthy conduct” while not perceiving such a risk.