Man pleads not guilty in NYC subway chokehold death
NEW YORK — A U.S. Marine veteran pleaded not guilty Wednesday in the chokehold death of a fellow passenger on a New York City subway train.
Daniel Penny, 24, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator. Neely had been shouting and asking other passengers for money before Penny pinned him to the floor of the moving subway car with the help of two other passengers, and held him in a chokehold for more than three minutes.
Neely, 30, lost consciousness during the struggle, which was captured on video, and was pronounced dead at a hospital.
A grand jury voted earlier this month to indict Penny on updated charges in the case. Wednesday’s arraignment lasted mere minutes. Penny, who is free on bond, uttered only the words, “Not guilty,” then left the courtroom with his lawyers.
Witnesses say the man was yelling and seemed to be suffering a mental health episode before another subway passenger restrained him in a fatal chokehold.
Penny, who was discharged in 2021 after four years in the Marines, has said he acted to protect himself and others from Neely, who had shouted, “I’m gonna kill you,” and said he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life.
“He was yelling in their faces saying these threats,” Penny said in a video released by his attorneys. “I just couldn’t sit still.”
Neely’s family members and their supporters have said Neely, who struggled with mental illness and homelessness, was crying out for help and was met with violence.
“What happened to Jordan was a crime, and this family shouldn’t have to stand by themselves,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said at Neely’s funeral on May 19.
His death aboard an F train in Manhattan quickly became a focus in the nation’s debates over racial justice and crime.
Republican leaders including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hailed Penny as a hero, while others compared the death of Neely, who was Black, at the hands of Penny, who is white, to the 1984 subway shooting of four Black men by “subway vigilante” Bernhard Goetz, a white man. Goetz was acquitted of all charges except for carrying an unlicensed gun.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
