Sgt. not guilty of Pvt. Danny Chen's slay

A military jury found a U.S. Army sergeant not guilty Monday of negligent homicide stemming from the suicide of Pvt. Danny Chen, who officials say endured frequent hazing before his death.

Sgt. Adam Holcomb, 30, the first of eight soldiers to face a court-martial in connection with the Lower East Side native's death, was found guilty of maltreatment and assault, but acquitted on negligent homicide and harassment charges by a military panel in Fort Bragg, N.C.

Chen, 19, shot himself last October in a guard tower in southern Afghanistan. Officials and family members said the weeks of physical mistreatment and racial harassment he encountered from his superiors and peers pushed him to suicide.