Manslaughter charge dismissed in case of NYC subway rider who fatally stabbed ex-con who attacked him, girlfriend

Charges have been dismissed in the case of a New York City subway rider who fatally stabbed an ex-con who attacked him and his girlfriend on a train earlier this month.

What are the details?

Jordan Williams, 20, had been charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon in the death of 36-year-old Devictor Ouedraogo stemming from a June 13 physical altercation on a J train, WABC-TV reported.

But Williams claimed self-defense, and he soon was released from custody without bail.

Video presented to a grand jury allegedly showed Ouedraogo choking Williams and punching Williams' girlfriend before Williams stabbed Ouedraogo, the New York Post reported, citing sources.

“Our office conducted an impartial and thorough investigation of this tragic case, which included review of multiple videos and interviews with all available witnesses, and that evidence was fairly presented to a grand jury," a spokesman for Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement Wednesday, the Post noted. "Today, the charges against Jordan Williams have been dismissed. Under New York law, a person is justified in using deadly physical force when they reasonably believe it is necessary to use such force to defend themselves or others from imminent use of deadly or unlawful physical force.”

More from the Post:

Williams, of Queens, was riding the train with his girlfriend around 8 p.m. when Ouedraogo, 36, began harassing straphangers aboard the train car, and yelled that he was going to “erase someone.”

Ouedraogo — who served time in state prison in 2009 for an attempted robbery in Queens — approached Williams’ girlfriend and snapped at her, “Want to f–k?”

Williams shoved Ouedraogo when he refused to back off, and the ex-con attacked the pair, getting into a scuffle that ended when Williams pulled a knife and mortally wounded him.

The Post said the news of charges against Williams being dismissed came the same day as Marine veteran Daniel Penny was arraigned on a manslaughter indictment in the Manhattan subway choking death of Jordan Neely, a case the paper said possesses "striking similarities" to Williams' case.

However, Williams' father told the Post that — unlike Penny — his son was physically attacked and had to defend himself.

“What would you do if someone was beating you in the face?” James Williams asked the paper. “You jump into survival mode. That’s what he did. He jumped into survival mode.”

The Post said Ouedraogo’s family has not been available for comment.

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