According to the Manhattan district attorney's office, Daniel Penny is due to surrender on Friday to face criminal charges concerning the chokehold murder of Jordan Neely aboard an F train.
Daniel Penny will be apprehended and charged with second-degree manslaughter, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed.
Daniel Penny to be Charged With Manslaughter
On May 1, Neely died from a chokehold. Penny, a Marine veteran, was captured on video placing Neely in a chokehold after Neely's outbursts on the train. Neely was destitute when he passed away.
According to authorities, witnesses told police that Neely was shouting and harassing passengers on the train. Penny was not specifically threatened by Neely when he intervened, and Neely had not become belligerent or threatened anyone in particular, according to police sources who spoke to ABC News.
In a previous statement, Penny's attorney offered condolences to Neely's family and friends and alleged that "Neely began aggressively threatening Penny" and that the Marine veteran and others "acted to defend themselves."
Penny holds Neely in a chokehold for nearly three minutes in incident footage while another man holds Neely's body. According to police, Penny, 24, was questioned by detectives and then released. He told police he had no intention of murdering Neely, ABC News reported.
Neely had a documented history of mental illness. He had been apprehended for multiple incidents on the metro, but how many led to convictions is unclear.
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Jordan Neely Subway Chokehold Death
Per NY Times, the Manhattan district attorney's office opened an investigation after the video spurred protests and prompted the office to initiate an investigation. Numerous city leaders, politicians, and advocates for homeless and mentally ill New Yorkers had urged Mr. Penny's immediate arrest.
They claimed that the murder of Neely demonstrated the city's disregard for its most vulnerable and marginalized residents. Other New Yorkers, while shocked by the murder and critical of Penny's actions, expressed their grievances and concerns regarding the city's public transportation system.
There have been fewer severe crimes on the metro in recent months, but crime rates remain higher than they were before the pandemic when ridership was higher. In a statement issued several days after Neely's death, Penny's counsel stated that their client "never intended to harm Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely demise."
Officially, Bragg's office has been tight-lipped about the case, stating only that seasoned, experienced prosecutors have been assigned to investigate, as per NBC New York.
According to sources, there may be grand jury action this week. In the interim, Bragg implored Wednesday night that his apparent reticence not be overanalyzed. Bragg said, "I think sometimes people peer into the silence and look at that as if the office isn't doing anything right. It's not important. It's quite the contrary."
On Wednesday, Mayor Eric Adams, whom some had accused of not weighing in sufficiently, addressed Neely's death formally in a public address. The Democrat asserted vehemently that Neely "shouldn't have perished" while treading a fine line between acknowledging Neely's death and the ensuing tensions and appearing to assign blame.
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