Charges against a gay New York teen accused of fatally stabbing his alleged bully have been reduced from murder to manslaughter.

Abel Cedeno was arrested after repeatedly stabbing 15-year-old Matthew McCree and critically injuring another student, 16-year-old Araine LaBoy, last month at the Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx.

The 18-year-old, who has pleaded not guilty, appeared appeared before a grand jury on Tuesday. Outside the courthouse, his family and supporters rallied, as did a group supporting McCree. Inside the two factions were separated by nearly a dozen court officers.

Cedeno maintains he was defending himself from McCree’s punches. “I was trying to get him off me,” he said from Rikers Island this week. “I was afraid for my life.”

The defense’s request for a psychological evaluation was granted and Cedano was placed on suicide watch while incarcerated. His attorney, Robert J. Feldman, told Gay City News that getting the charges reduced was “a huge victory. It opens the way for a plea deal.”

He admits he purchased a own knife for protection, but pulled the weapon on McCree on September 27 in an attempt to get him to stop. “No way did I think someone could die,” he said. “He hit my face twice. The second time I snapped,” he told Gay City News. “All the years of bullying, and I couldn’t control my body and started to defend myself.”

Cedeno’s sister Vanessa says their family is being threatened. “We just want justice for Abel. No one wanted for this to happen. He was bullied from the sixth grade and would come home with bruises. The schools failed him. My brother should not be in jail. We shouldn’t have to be afraid to be ourselves, especially in school.”

Defense attorneys worry witnesses will not come forward out of fear of retaliation.

Cedeno alleges two teachers in the classroom did nothing when McCree walked all the way across the room to attack him, as dozens of students looked on. That’s when he pulled out his knife.

“These students have been calling him ’faggot’ and ’spic,’ said family friend Savannah Hornback, adding that he often returned home in tears. “After it had been reported numerous times and there was no reaction from the school, Abel felt [there was] no other way out.”

Cedano originally faced second-degree murder. According to his attorneys, the D.A. could still seek an attempted murder charge.