Marine Daniel Penny to be arraigned in New York today for subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely
- Penny is due to be arraigned in Manhattan at 10am on Wednesday morning
- He was originally charged with 2nd degree manslaughter; new indictment will be unsealed today
Marine veteran Daniel Penny will be arraigned in New York City today for the chokehold subway death of Jordan Neely, a mentally ill homeless man who died on May 1 after Penny subdued him on a train.
Penny, 24, was captured in videos recorded by bystanders putting Neely in a chokehold from behind for several minutes on May 1 while they rode on an F train in Manhattan.
Neely’s death drew national attention and sparked protests in May by those angered by the police’s delay of more than a week in arresting Penny, who is white, with killing Neely, who is black.
He was originally charged with second degree manslaughter, but an additional, grand jury indictment bearing fresh charges will be unsealed today.
Marine veteran Daniel Penny will be arraigned in New York City today for the chokehold subway death of Jordan Neely, a mentally ill homeless man who died on May 1 after Penny subdued him on a train
Neely had been in and out of the city’s homeless shelters in recent years, and his family say his mental health worsened dramatically after his mother was murdered when he was a teenager
In interviews since the incident, Penny has told of how Neely was threatening other passengers on the train.
He said he was merely trying to protect them and never intended to kill Neely.
Prior to the grand jury proceedings, Penny first appeared in the Manhattan Criminal Court on May 12 on a charge of second-degree manslaughter, a felony crime that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Judge Kevin McGrath released Penny on a $100,000 bond and ordered him to surrender his passport.
The grand jury voted to indict Penny on June 14, and the charge or charges it contains are due to be unsealed at Penny’s arraignment hearing on Wednesday.
In the minutes before he was killed, Neely, a 30-year-old former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled with mental illness, had been shouting about how hungry he was and that he was willing to return to jail or die, according to passengers on the subway car.
Penny and his lawyers have indicated that he will plead not guilty to any criminal charge for the killing.
Neely had been in and out of the city’s homeless shelters in recent years, and his family say his mental health worsened dramatically after his mother was murdered when he was a teenager.
He had been arrested many times, most recently for punching a 67-year-old woman in 2021, breaking bones in her face.
