Jordan Neely: Ex-Marine to be charged with New York subway death

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May 11, 2023, 22:31 GMT

Updated 6 minutes ago

Image source, Getty Images

A former US Marine will be charged with the murder of a homeless man on the New York City subway, the Manhattan District Attorney said.

Daniel Penny, 24, will be arrested and formally charged Friday with causing the death of Jordan Neely after putting the 30-year-old in a chokehold.

Penny’s lawyers say he did not know his actions to subdue Mr. Neely would lead to his death.

The incident, which occurred on Monday, May 1, was recorded on mobile phone screenshots.

“We can confirm that Daniel Binney will be arrested for second-degree manslaughter,” a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said in a statement.

“We cannot provide any additional information until he is brought to trial in Manhattan Criminal Court.”

Witnesses said Mr. Neely was acting aggressively towards other Underground passengers, but had not physically attacked anyone before Penny put him in the chokehold.

Video taken by a freelance journalist on the train shows the ex-Marine holding Mr. Neely around his neck for 2 minutes and 55 seconds.

Benny told other passengers to call 911 during the struggle with Neely, according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.

Police in New York questioned the day of the incident and released the ex-soldier.

In a statement released earlier this month, Benny’s attorneys expressed condolences to Neely’s family and said Benny and other passengers acted in self-defense.

They said Mr. Neely’s behavior was “the apparent consequence of an ongoing, untreated mental illness”, which led Penny and others to “protect themselves, until help arrives”.

It is not clear if charges will be brought against two other unidentified individuals who were also seen restraining Mr. Neely in the online video.

A witness to the quarrel said that Mr. Neely was shouting about hunger and thirst. Police sources also told CBS News that Mr. Neely was behaving erratically.

In a statement released earlier this week, Neely’s family said Benny “should be in jail.”

They said, “The family wants you to know that Jordan is important.”

Mr. Neely was a famous Michael Jackson impersonator who sang frequently in Times Square.

He had a number of previous offenses, which New York City Mayor Eric Adams said highlights the need to improve the mental health system so it can better protect people like himself.

According to US media reports, Mr. Neely arrested 42 people on charges such as fee evasion, theft and assault of three women.

His mother, Kristi Neely, was murdered in 2007 by her boyfriend, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2012, according to the Jersey Journal.

After his mother died, Mr. Neely began having mental health problems, his aunt, Caroline Neely, told the New York Post.

His death sparked protests across the city and calls for justice.

The New York City Medical Examiner ruled that Mr. Neely’s death was a homicide resulting from “pressure.” [the] neck”.

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