A grand jury in Brooklyn has voted to dismiss manslaughter charges against a 20-year-old man who was accused of stabbing a homeless man to death earlier in June while riding the subway.
Jordan Williams successfully convinced a Brooklyn grand jury that he had acted in self-defense June 13 during the fatal stabbing of ex-convict Devictor Ouedraogo, Fox 5 News reported. The jury voted to drop the charges against Williams after he testified for 45 minutes about the incident.
Prior to the stabbing, Ouedraogo was reportedly harassing passengers aboard New York City’s J train. Around 8:00 p.m. Ouedraogo reportedly got into an altercation with Williams and his girlfriend, with Williams telling jurors the homeless man had punched them both. As the two men continued to fight, each put the other in a headlock before Williams reportedly pulled out a knife and stabbed Ouedraogo twice.
A grand jury has declined to indict 20-year-old Jordan Williams, who had been charged with manslaughter for the June 13 stabbing death of Devictor Ouedraogo on a J train.
His self-defense claim was bolstered by video footage presented to the grand jury, which showed Ouedraogo… pic.twitter.com/8Rmcx69ekm
— Crime in NYC (@CrimeInNYC) June 29, 2023
“I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone. Nothing malicious on my part and when I found out, I couldn’t believe that he had actually passed away,” Williams said of the stabbing, according to Fox 5 News. (RELATED: Marine Vet Speaks Out On Chokehold Death, Says Jordan Neely Introduced ‘Terror’ On The Train)
Multiple videos of the incident as well as witness interviews were all made available to the grand jury prior to their decision to absolve Williams of guilt in the matter of Ouedraogo’s death, the outlet stated. Their decision reflected a statement made by Jason Goldman, Williams’ attorney, at the time of his client’s arrest.
“You can sit there and get assaulted, and your friends or family or loved ones can get assaulted and seriously injured. Or you can fight back and get arrested and maybe get charged, maybe go to Rikers, maybe get released. So what are you supposed to do?” Goldman stated of the incident, according to CBS News.
New York law allows for the use of physical force if a person has a reason to feel the need to defend themselves and/or others. A person can only use deadly force, however, if they believe the attacker is about to do the same.