Marine accused of killing Jordan Neely will stand trial

Sometime after 2 At 5 p.m. on May 1, 2023, Jordan Neely boarded a northbound F train in Manhattan at Second Ave. Neely, 30, was no stranger to the subway. For years, Neely performed as a Michael Jackson impersonator, both underground and in the tourist hub of Times Square, bringing whimsy to weary pedestrians and pedestrians. Neely, 30, has even gained fans outside of New York City. Neighbors described Neely as kind, chatting about video games and anime, but quiet. There were even times when Neely, who as a street performer had no money, would give money for food and haircuts to needy children, they said. The Guardian.

That day, Neeley got into a train car with a passenger named Daniel Penny. The then-24-year-old Navy veteran boarded the train in downtown Brooklyn just before 2 p.m. Penny, who was walking home from class, planned to get off at the Broadway-Lafayette station and go to the gym. He wanted to go for a swim.

The car was full. At some point, according to court documents, Neely began screaming. What exactly he said remains a matter of controversy: most passengers said Neely commented that he was homeless, hungry and thirsty. Several alleged that Neely threw the jacket on the floor. Many said Neely said he wanted to go to jail or prison. Some said Neely threatened to hurt others on the train. Some said Neely said nothing like that.

“For me, it was like another typical day in New York. That’s what I’m used to seeing. I wasn’t really thinking if I was going to be threatened or anything like that, but it was a little different because, you know, you don’t really hear anyone saying anything like that,” said one witness.

“I’m from New York and I’ve ridden the subway and buses my whole life. I myself interacted, if not interacted, I witnessed explosions of people on the train, so I personally didn’t feel threatened by it. . . It was common for me”, recalled another.

Another reported, “(H)onestly, I wasn’t really worried about what was going on… I’m kind of used to it, so I see it all the time.”

The events that followed Neely’s outburst, which authorities said lasted just 30 seconds, turned out to be anything but ordinary. Penny approached Neely from behind, grabbed him by the neck and pulled him to the ground. Penny’s back was against the floor, Neely’s back against her chest. Penny continued to hold him by the neck and wrapped his legs around Neeley’s. Neely was unable to free himself.

The train entered the Broadway-Lafayette station. Most of the car’s passengers disembarked. But Penny continued to restrain Neely. At some point, two other male passengers grabbed Neely’s arms, making his escape even more difficult. Five minutes after Penny’s restraint, Neely stopped moving with any discernible purpose. One witness described Neely’s behavior as “spasms and the kind of agonizing movement you see near death.”

“If you don’t let him go now, you’ll kill him,” a knight said to Penny. After more than six minutes, Penny slid out from under Neely. Penny and one of the passengers rolled Neely’s limp body to the side. A “thick, pink substance” came out of Neely’s mouth, according to court documents.

The police arrived several minutes later. Neely’s pulse was weak and he wasn’t breathing. Police attempted CPR without success: Neely was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital an hour later.

After more than a year, Penny will stand trial on October 21 on charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. These specific charges mean that Penny is not on trial for intentionally killing Neely. Prosecutors argue that Penny acted carelessly, which he should have known could have resulted in Neely’s death. They pointed to his Navy training, which included discussion of the potential lethality of chokeholds, and the fact that he continued to restrain Neely after he stopped moving. Penny, who has pleaded not guilty, insists her actions were justified under the law, claiming she had every reason to think Neely posed an imminent and potentially fatal threat. At the time, Neely’s death triggered a discourse about crime and disorder that resonated far outside New York City. Many saw it as an indictment of a social support system that routinely failed society’s most vulnerable, while others overlaid a narrative that it was justified vigilantism on the lawless streets of a liberal city. And as the country becomes increasingly politically fractured, no one knows what the trial will be like.

PENNY, FOR HER PART, TALKED openly about the incident with the police. At first, Penny said, he wasn’t paying much attention to Neely. “He was just a crack addict,” Penny recalled in a statement to the police, with whom he voluntarily spoke after the incident. Then, Penny claimed, Neely’s behavior changed, claiming he threw a jacket at the passengers. “He’s like, if I don’t get this, this and this, I’m going to, I might go to jail forever.’ He was talking nonsense, you know, but… I don’t know. These guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff…” After this interview, Penny left the Fifth Precinct a free man. Officers who interacted with Penny described his behavior as unrestrained. Video recordings of the encounter emerged soon after, sparking a public outcry. The medical examiner then ruled Neely’s cause of death “neck compression (strangulation).” Penny was arrested on May 12, 2023.

According to new YorkNeely had a history of trauma and unstable housing, along with ineffectively treated schizophrenia and addiction, which many believe set the stage for a senseless death. Many on the right saw Penny as a red-blooded American man who justifiably defended himself and others from violent disruption. Top Republicans cast Penny as the real victim in an effort to attack Democrats on crime. Without watching the video, Donald Trump said Penny “was in great danger and the other people in the car were in great danger.” The case also recalled New York City’s troubling history with subway vigilantism, drawing comparisons to Bernie Goetz. (In 1987, Goetz, who is white, was acquitted of attempted murder charges after shooting four young black men on a train several years earlier.)

As politicized as Penny’s case was, it remains to be seen whether her trial will fuel partisan discourse as it unfolds in the shadow of the 2024 election. Yes, Trump has a penchant for vigilantism. But the Republican presidential nominee has focused on migrants in his recent complaints about violent crime — which occurred during the Biden-Harris administration — alleging that undocumented newcomers are bringing disorder to the United States. It’s also unclear how much voters will care about the reasons for Penny’s trial. Polls indicate that Americans are most concerned about the economy and the migration crisis. And Manhattan jurors – however frustrated they may be with the deteriorating quality of life under the administration of indicted Mayor Eric Adams – might as well consider the facts rather than the media noise.

PENNY IS PREPARED TO USE a justification defense, claiming that her restraint of Neely was legitimate and not criminal. In New York, a person can legally use physical force against another to defend themselves or others who are in immediate danger. Some witnesses who testified before the grand jury described feeling frightened by Neely’s actions. Mother and son “took cover” behind the boy’s stroller to protect themselves from Neely, Penny’s team wrote in court documents, citing testimony from grand jury witnesses. Another passenger told grand jurors he felt like they were “going to die.” One high school student placed her hands on a classmate’s chest and remembered “praying for the doors to open.” Yet another said: “I’ve been taking the subway for many years. I’ve found a lot of things, but nothing that scared me so much.” They will say that Neely had K2, a highly addictive synthetic cannabinoid that can cause aggression and psychosis, in her system — something prosecutors themselves plan to say in court when discussing the medical examiner’s findings — and are asking a judge to let them present historical evidence of his history with K2 abuse and psychiatric records.

Prosecutors want to block the testimony of the witness who would discuss them, arguing in court documents that “a deceased victim’s prior bad acts and psychiatric history are not admissible unless they are relevant to an issue at trial.” Furthermore, they note, Penny could not have known this history when assessing whether Neely posed a serious threat. “The defense should not be allowed to introduce damaging information about the victim’s character and history. The only reason to do so is to influence the jury to devalue Mr. Neely’s life,” prosecutors argued.

Penny’s lawyers insist that he could not have foreseen that his actions could result in Neely’s death and claim that Penny did not intend to kill Neely. But prosecutors don’t need to prove intent with the charges Penny faces — they just need to prove that Penny “recklessly” caused someone else’s death. And for that, they have statement after statement. “I just put him out. I just strangled him,” Penny told police. “He came and threw shit, he’s like I don’t give a fuck, I’m going to life in prison and stuff, so I just came up behind him and strangled him. He was threatening everyone.”

“We just went to the ground. He was trying to stall, I caught him pretty good,” Penny told police. “I was in the Marine Corps.”