Marine veteran who fatally choked NYC subway rider Jordan Neely is freed pending trial

Authored by apnews.com and submitted by OkayAlfalfa

Daniel Penny, the Marine veteran who fatally choked New York subway rider Jordan Neely, turned himself in Friday on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Marine veteran who placed an agitated New York City subway passenger in a chokehold , killing him and sparking outrage as bystander video went viral, surrendered Friday on a manslaughter charge filed nearly two weeks after the deadly encounter.

Daniel Penny, 24, was freed pending trial hours after turning himself in at a police station and appearing in court to answer criminal charges in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former subway performer with a history of mental illness. Penny did not enter a plea.

Neely’s death prompted protests, while others embraced Penny as a vigilante hero. His lawyers have said he was acting in self-defense. Lawyers for Neely’s family said Neely wasn’t harming anyone and didn’t deserve to die. An autopsy ruled Neely’s death a homicide due to compression of the neck.

“Jordan Neely should still be alive today,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

A judge authorized Penny’s release on $100,000 bond and ordered him to surrender his passport and not to leave New York without approval. Prosecutors said they are seeking a grand jury indictment. Penny is due back in court on July 17.

Penny didn’t speak to reporters. At a brief arraignment, Penny faced straight ahead, his hands cuffed. He spoke softly, offering one-word answers to Judge Kevin McGrath as his lawyer, Steve Raiser, placed an arm around his shoulder. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said Neely had been making threats and “scaring passengers” when Penny approached him from behind and placed him in a chokehold. Penny “continued to hold Mr. Neely in the chokehold for several minutes,” even after he stopped moving, Steinglass said.

A freelance journalist who recorded Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he had been shouting at passengers and begging for money aboard the train but had not gotten physical with anyone. Penny pinned Neely to the floor of the subway car with the help of two other passengers and held him in a chokehold.

Neely’s death has raised an uproar over many issues , including how the city treats people with mental illness, as well as crime, race and vigilantism. Police questioned Penny, who is white, in the aftermath but released him without charges. Neely was Black.

Thomas Kenniff, a lawyer for Penny, said he didn’t mean to harm Neely and is dealing with the situation with the “integrity and honor that is characteristic of who he is and characteristic of his honorable service in the United States Marine Corps.”

Donte Mills, a lawyer for Neely’s family, disputed Penny’s version of events, saying the veteran “acted with indifference. He didn’t care about Jordan, he cared about himself. And we can’t let that stand.”

“Mr. Neely did not attack anyone.” Mills said at a news conference Friday. “He did not touch anyone. He did not hit anyone. But he was choked to death.”

Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, wept as another family lawyer, Lennon Edwards, recounted the last moments before Penny tackled Neely to the ground and put him in a chokehold.

“What did he think would happen?” Mills asked.

Neely, remembered by some commuters for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years, friends said. Neely had been arrested multiple times and had recently pleaded guilty for assaulting a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station in 2021.

Mills said Neely’s outlook changed after his mother was killed by her boyfriend in 2007. Through his struggles, Mills said, Neely found joy in singing, dancing and bringing a smile to other people’s faces.

“No one on that train asked Jordan: ‘What’s wrong, how can I help you?’” Mills said, urging New Yorkers in a similar situation: “Don’t attack. Don’t choke. Don’t kill. Don’t take someone’s life. Don’t take someone’s loved one from them because they’re in a bad place.”

Roger Abrams, a community health representative, said he saw Neely on the subway a week before his death. Neely was disheveled and told people he was hungry and in need of spare change. Abrams said he approached Neely and asked him why he no longer performs.

“I haven’t been feeling well,” Abrams remembered Neely saying.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office waited to file charges in part because prosecutors wanted to learn more about what happened aboard the train in the moments before Penny moved to restrain Neely. The delay helped fuel protests in the city. Some people climbed down to subway tracks, disrupting service and leading to arrests.

Mayor Eric Adams said Wednesday that Neely’s death shouldn’t have happened.

A second-degree manslaughter conviction in New York requires a jury to find that a person engaged in reckless conduct that created an unjustifiable risk of death, consciously disregarded that risk and acted in a way that grossly deviated from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.

Associated Press writer Karen Matthews contributed to this report.

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doctor_x on May 12nd, 2023 at 15:37 UTC »

I can't think of a case in recent memory that's such a litmus test for New Yorkers.

ObviouslyJoking on May 12nd, 2023 at 13:09 UTC »

I’ve seen zero statements from the people who helped him subdue the guy or the possibility dozens of witnesses who saw what happened. Would be cool to see more of that and less from people not there.

KyoMeetch on May 12nd, 2023 at 12:49 UTC »

I have some relatively unique perspective on this matter. 1. I live in NYC and take the subway for hours every day, 2. I have been training bjj for the past 5 years, and 3. I am an Attorney.

What this whole thing really comes down to are how long the choke was held and the intention of the strangler.

If the choke was held for 15 minutes then I struggle to think how there could be an intention not to kill. People caught in a tight choke which cuts off blood from the jugular veins generally go unconscious within 15 to 30 seconds. However, that is assuming that the strangler in this case had the skill to apply such a choke. There is a skill gap with chokes, generally even a relatively new white belt should be able to tap/choke out someone with 0 skill or training. That being said I’ve trained with people that have years of experience who still can’t apply a clean rear naked to save their lives and especially would have trouble in a real life application.

Until the facts are released we can really only speculate. There are two scenarios that come to mind: 1. Strangler acted in self defense to detain man who was threatening passengers with perceived harm. The choke that was applied and the length of time it was held were reasonable given the circumstances. 2. While strangler initially may have acted in self defense, he recklessly/negligently/intentionally strangled deceased to death.

Facts to know: 1. How long choke was held 2. Was the deceased still being choked after going limp, for how long, would a reasonable person in this circumstance be able to tell the deceased was already unconscious?

TLDR: there is nuance here and I could see either a finding of justified self defense or up to first degree manslaughter.