A Mount Vernon man who fatally stabbed his sister’s ex-boyfriend during a fight on East Third Street two years ago pleaded guilty as jury selection was under way in his retrial.

The guilty plea came last week after Judge Robert Neary offered Carlton Naughton a six-year prison term for first-degree manslaughter in the Aug. 27, 2021, killing of Chinyelu Browne, significantly less than the 25-year maximum term he faced or the 18 years prosecutors were seeking.

Sentencing was scheduled for Friday but was adjourned until March 24.

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Naughton testified at his first trial last summer that he stabbed Browne in self-defense. Jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on the manslaughter charge – they were 11-1 in favor of conviction – but did find him guilty of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.

While waiting for a new trial, Naughton twice changed lawyers. He was also sent to state prison in late December when Neary decided to go ahead with sentencing on the weapon charge, imposing a 2 1/3-to-7-year term.

The six-year term he promised Naughton for manslaughter would run at the same time as the weapon sentence.

“There were a lot of moving parts in this case and while we believe our client was justified the risk of re-trial was too great,” defense lawyer Kenny Calvey said.

He said Naughton took advantage of the opportunity to get a significantly lower sentence than he faced if convicted at trial. It also would have been possible for Neary to impose consecutive prison terms that would have exposed Naughton to at least a decade in prison.

Both men worked for the city of Mount Vernon – Naughton in the water department; Browne in sanitation – but the fatal confrontation had nothing to do with their employment. There was bad blood over Browne’s relationship with Naughton’s sister, and days before the fight he had posted a rap video on social media in which he blasted her and her family.

Naughton was driving his city truck west on East Third on the afternoon of Aug. 27. He said he had planned to stop there at a deli to get a drink. As he was approaching, he spotted Browne on the sidewalk and they exchanged words. When Naughton pulled over and got out of the truck, he saw Browne approaching him with a knife and he pulled from his pocket a knife he said he regularly carried for work.

The two circled each other in the middle of traffic and Browne struck the first blow, a slash across Naughton’s face. But in the process his knife flew out of his hand and Browne turned to run. Naughton caught up to him on sidewalk and began punching at him with the knife. Browne crossed the street, got on his scooter and drove off, but crashed around the corner. He was taken to the hospital where he died a short time later.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Carlton Naughton promised 6-year prison term in Mount Vernon stabbing