NOVEMBER 1, 2024:
NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors have heard opening statements in the trial of the man accused of choking a distressed Black subway rider to death last year in New York. Prosecutors and defense agree Daniel Penny didn’t intend to kill Jordan Neely. But a prosecutor told jurors Friday (Nov. 1, 2024) that Penny went too far in trying to neutralize someone he saw as a threat and not as a person. A defense attorney said Penny put others’ safety above his own when he put Neely in a chokehold that ended with Neely limp on the floor. Jurors later later saw police body camera video of Penny calmly telling a police officer that he had, in his words, “put him out.”
OCTOBER 21, 2024:
NEW YORK (AP) — Jury selection is set to begin in the criminal trial of the U.S. Marine Corps veteran who placed a man in a deadly chokehold aboard a New York City subway train last year. Daniel Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 1, 2023, death of Jordan Neely. The Manhattan court proceedings starting Monday (Oct. 21, 2024) are expected to last six weeks. The killing was a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over racial injustice. Some hailed Penny, who is white, as a hero, while others accused him of racist vigilantism against a Black man struggling with drug addiction, mental illness and homelessness.
MAY 19, 2023:
NEW YORK (AP) — Jordan Neely’s chokehold death on the New York City subway set off a debate about vigilantism, homelessness and public safety. On Friday (May 19, 2023) he is being mourned by his family at a church in Harlem. The former Michael Jackson impersonator died May 1 when a fellow subway rider pinned him to the floor of a subway car in a chokehold that lasted several minutes. The fatal struggle was recorded on video by an onlooker who said Neely had been yelling at other passengers as he begged for money, but hadn’t attacked anyone. The eulogy at Neely’s funeral will be delivered by the Rev. Al Sharpton, a noted civil rights activist.
MAY 12, 2023, UPDATE:
NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Marine veteran who used a fatal chokehold on an agitated New York City subway passenger was freed from custody hours after surrendering on a manslaughter charge. Daniel Penny appeared in court hours after turning himself in at a police station after prosecutors said they were charging him in the May 1, 2023, death of Jordan Neely. The 24-year-old did not enter a plea. Prosecutors said they are seeking a grand jury indictment. A judge authorized Penny’s release on bond following a brief arraignment. A judge ordered him to surrender his passport and not to leave New York without approval.
MAY 12, 2023:
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger on a New York City subway, leading to the other rider’s death, is expected to turn himself in to authorities Friday (May 12, 2023) on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.
Manhattan prosecutors announced Thursday they would bring the criminal charge against Daniel Penny, 24, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely.
Neely’s death, captured on video by a freelance journalist, has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime and vigilantism.
Penny’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment after the prosecutors made their announcement. They have previously said Penny acted in self-defense.
According to an onlooker, Neely, who is Black, had been screaming and begging for money aboard the train, but had not gotten physical with anyone.
Penny, who is white, was questioned by police in the aftermath, but was released without charges.
Friends of Neely said the former subway performer had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years. He had several arrests to his name, including a 2021 assault of a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station.
A second-degree manslaughter charge in New York will require the jury to find that a person has engaged in reckless conduct that creates an unjustifiable risk of death, and then consciously disregards that risk.
The law also requires that conduct to be a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.
MAY 6, 2023:
NEW YORK (AP) — The potential criminal charges against a U.S. Marine veteran who put Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold aboard a New York City subway train might depend on whether a “reasonable” New Yorker would have acted similarly. Neely died Monday (May 1, 2023) when a fellow rider on a train hurtling beneath Manhattan pulled him to the floor and pinned him with a hold taught in Marine combat training. One witness says Neely had been screaming at other passengers but hadn’t attacked anyone. The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating the incident and no charges have been announced. Under New York’s penal code, a person who uses deadly force must not only prove that they feared for their own life or someone else’s, but that any reasonable person would have felt the same way.
MAY 4, 2023:
NEW YORK (AP) — A man who had been shouting at people aboard a New York City subway train died after fellow riders tackled him and one put him in a chokehold that lasted until his body went limp. The city’s medical examiner determined Wednesday (May 3, 2023) that the cause of Jordan Neely’s death was compression of the neck. He was yelling and pacing aboard a train in Manhattan on Monday when he was restrained by at least three passengers, including a U.S. Marine veteran who was questioned by police but released without charges. Video posted online by a freelance journalist shows the man holding Neely in a headlock position for several minutes while a second passenger is pinning down Neely’s arms and a third holds down his shoulder.
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