Global Courant 2023-05-12 19:49:01
Marine veteran Daniel Penny reported to police in Lower Manhattan on Friday to face trial for manslaughter for fatally strangling a wandering homeless person on the New York City subway.
Penny arrived in a black Cadillac Escalade, got out in a dark suit and was followed by lawyer Thomas Kenniff.
Fox News senior correspondent Laura Ingle asked Penny if he had any comment on the allegations as he entered the 5th Precinct a little after 8 a.m., but he didn’t answer.
Meanwhile, a witness who was on the subway when Penny stopped Jordan Neely, 30, in a stranglehold on May 1 the New York Post she “prayed for him.”
NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS ‘JORDAN NEELY DID NOT DESERVE TO DIE’
Marine veteran Daniel Penny, right, fatally strangled Jordan Neely, left, on a NYC subway after the homeless man began yelling at passengers. (Mills & Edwards/All Trails)
The 66-year-old woman said Neely “threatened the passengers” during the altercation on the northbound F train.
“He said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet, I’m going to jail’ because he would kill people on the train,” the woman said of Neely. “He said, ‘I’d kill a mother. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’m going to jail.'”
MARINE VETERAN IN NYC SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD DEATH FACES DIFFICULT LEGAL ROAD, EXPERTS SAY
Penny, a 24-year-old college student, only intervened when Neely’s behavior spiraled out of control. The pensioner said she thanked the young man afterwards.
The veteran, who is a week shy of graduating from college, was transported from the police station to Manhattan criminal court on Friday. He is expected to face charges of second-degree manslaughter.
A source told Fox News Digital that prosecutors are expected to seek a $100,000 bail package.
Screenshot of a bystander video showing Jordan Neely being held in a stranglehold on the New York City subway. (Luces de Nueva York/Juan Alberto Vazquez via Storyful)
Neely, who suffered from a mental illness, reportedly acted aggressively and yelled at subway passengers, according to a freelance journalist who documented the confrontation.
“He started yelling in an aggressive way,” freelance journalist Alberto Vazquez told The New York Post. “He said he had no food and drink, he was tired and he doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all those things, took off his coat, a black coat that he had, and threw that road. on the ground.”
JORDAN NEELY HAD A HISTORY OF ATTACKS ON SUBWAY RIDERS BEFORE NYC CHOKEHOLD’S DEATH
The city’s medical examiner ruled the murder a homicide caused by compression of the neck.
Penny dragged Neely to the ground from behind and held him in a chokehold as he appeared to gradually lose consciousness, according to Vazquez and the footage.
Daniel Penny arrives at the NYPD’s 5th Precinct with his attorney Thomas A. Kenniff on Friday, May 12, 2023. Penny is charged in connection with the death of subway driver Jordan Neely. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
Penny’s attorney said he acted in self-defense to protect himself and other New Yorkers. If Neely is convicted of the charge, he could face up to 15 years in prison.
JORDAN NEELY’S FAMILY DESTROYS NAVY VET’S LACK OF Remorse AFTER NYC SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD’S DEATH
Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference Thursday that “Jordan Neely didn’t deserve to die.”
The videotaped murder has exposed serious public safety problems in the city’s subways and sparked widespread protests.
Outreach workers were so familiar with Neely that he was included on the city’s “Top 50” list — an internal list maintained by the Department of Homeless Services of people most in need, the New York Post reported.
911 TIMELINE MOMENTS BEFORE NAVY VET PUT JORDAN NEELY IN THE CHOKEHOLD ON NYC SUBWAY
Neely had a history of violent assaults against subway drivers, including in 2021 punching a 67-year-old woman in the face and breaking her nose and eye socket.
Four months earlier, he allegedly punched another woman in the face on the subway platform, according to court records.
Former Marine Daniel Penny surrenders to the 5th Precinct on Friday to face charges of second-degree manslaughter for the death of Jordan Neely in his stranglehold. (Brendan McDermid via Reuters)
In 2019, he allegedly punched two men in the face a month apart on different subway platforms, breaking a victim’s nose, the records show.
The man had more than three dozen arrests — including for exposing a woman on a subway platform in 2021 and harassing a subway driver in 2020.
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Rebecca Rosenberg is an accomplished journalist and author of books with a focus on crime and criminal justice. Email tips to [email protected] and @ReRosenberg.
