A Manhattan jury has cleared Daniel Penny of criminal wrongdoing in the strangulation death of Jordan Neely on a crowded subway. The murder was captured on video and sparked a heated debate about the city’s mental health system and underground crime.
The courtroom erupted in applause when panelists acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide in the May 2023 strangulation death of Neely on a crowded Uptown train. In that case, Penny could have been sentenced to up to four years in prison.
The jury foreman said in court, “We, the jury, have reached a unanimous decision regarding paragraph 2.”
Ms. Penny immediately broke out into a big smile and tried to hug her defense attorney, Thomas Kenniff, as Ms. Neely’s father, Andre Zachary, was escorted from the courtroom.
“Racism is in this country,” one Black Lives Matter supporter shouted as he left the room. Another Neely supporter yelled at Penny, “It’s a small world, buddy,” and left the room.
The top charge against Penny, manslaughter, was rejected Friday after jurors twice said they could not reach a unanimous verdict.
Jurors sided with Penny’s defense, arguing that the Marine Corps veteran was justified in rushing to protect his comrades when he subdued an erratic man on a subway straphanger. Lawyers also questioned whether there was enough evidence that strangulation caused Neely’s death.
“Who’s the next person to get on the train with you?” one of the lawyers, Stephen Reiser, said in closing arguments in Manhattan Supreme Court.
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“Do you know that a guy with earbuds on and minding his own business who you know will be there for you if something happens? Or when you’re alone in a crowd of people frozen in fear and Jordan? -Are we just hoping that people like Neely don’t board the train?
Lawyers also questioned whether there was enough evidence that strangulation caused Neely’s death.
The ruling sparked an immediate reaction from across the United States.
“Daniel Penny’s actions were heroic and saved the lives of those on board the train,” House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote to X.
“While we once celebrated bravery like this in America, the left continues to crusade to protect criminals and prosecute heroes,” Johnson said. “I’m glad this charge was dismissed.”
Big Apple City Councilman Joe Borelli (R-Staten Island) emphasized that the jury’s decision was “nothing more than (Manhattan Borough Attorney) Alvin Bragg’s perverse sense of justice.” “
“All New Yorkers are scared on the subway, but I had no problem understanding the context of Daniel Penny’s actions,” he said. “The district attorney should resign in shame.”
The not guilty verdict came after jurors heard from more than 40 witnesses. They included a passenger who said Mr. Neely approached him from behind on the train and launched a frightening tirade at him before letting him off at the Broadway-Lafayette station.
One straphanger testified that he was “scared and scared” after hearing Neely ranting and saying he was “going to die and go to jail.” Afterward, she thanked Penny for intervening to stop Neely, but Neely was furious: “Someone is going to die today.”
Another woman on the train told jurors she feared for her life after hearing Neely’s “diabolical” abuse.
Another mother, who was taking her 5-year-old son to a doctor’s appointment, testified that she barricaded her son in the back of a stroller because she was afraid of the “belligerent and free-spirited” Neely.
No witnesses testified that Neely touched anyone or lunged at anyone before Penny strangled him. Evidence during the month-long trial revealed that Neely was not in possession of a weapon at the time, and officers only found a muffin in his pocket.
The polarizing incident sparked a heated conversation about mentally ill people who are being failed by the city’s broken system. Mayor Eric Adams expressed similar sentiments, saying Penney “did what we were supposed to do as a city” that day by protecting others.
Prosecutors said Penny’s actions went “too far” and became criminal when she locked Neely in the cabin after nearly all of the terrified passengers fled the train. insisted.
“What is so tragic about this case is that although the defendant initially tried to do the right thing, as the chokehold progressed, he realized that Jordan Neely was in severe pain and was on the verge of death. , which continued unnecessarily,” said prosecutor Dafna Yoran. In her final statement she said:
Jurors watched a 6-minute time-lapse video of a bystander showing Penny holding Neely. This included 51 seconds after Neely’s body appeared to go limp. The video shows Penny continuing to hold Neely even as witnesses begged her to let go.
Dr. Cynthia Harris, who ruled that Mr. Neely’s death was a homicide by strangling Ms. Penny, told the jury that at the exact moment Mr. Neely passed out on the floor of the subway car, Dr. , in other words, pointed out the state in which Ms. Penny continued to put her arm around Ms. Neely’s neck.
The city medical examiner, who handed down the verdict before Neely’s toxicology report came back, said the encounter with Neely would not have been possible, even though it was later determined that Neely had a sufficient amount of drugs in his system. He testified that he was very confident after watching the video and that he intends to stick to his decision. “To kill the elephant.”
Jurors asked to reread certain portions of Harris’ testimony during deliberations.
Trial evidence revealed that Neely had the synthetic marijuana drug K2 in his system at the time of the confrontation. Jurors also heard that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and told doctors in 2021 that he heard “devil voices”.
Penny’s mother, sister, friends, and Marines took the stand and vouched for her character.
The defense’s medical expert, forensic pathologist Dr. Satish Chundru, said Neely’s death was not caused by Penny’s strangulation, but by “a combination of sickle cell crisis, schizophrenia, struggle and restraint, and synthetic marijuana. He claimed that he died due to the effects of
Penny refused to take the witness stand. But jurors heard him tell officers who arrived on the station platform: “I just kicked him out” before making a choking gesture with his arm.
Hours later, at Chinatown’s 5th Precinct, a relaxed Penny insisted during interrogation that he was merely trying to “defuse the situation” and had no intention of hurting Neely.
“I’m not trying to kill that guy,” the Marine veteran told two detectives as prosecutors watched him through a one-way mirror. “I’m just trying to keep him from hurting other people.”
Referring to Neely, who is clearly mentally ill, Penny added during cross-examination, “All these people are pushing people away in front of trains and stuff.”
Neely’s death and Penny’s arrest 11 days later sparked a national political firestorm over the legitimacy of Penny’s actions.
The episode also highlights the cracks in the city’s mental health system, where Neely was treated as “emotionally disturbed” during more than 20 previous encounters but was unable to receive the treatment he needed. It also sparked anger over the fall.
“This lawsuit is about a broken system and a broken system that doesn’t help our mentally ill and mentally ill.
We don’t have a home,” Penny’s attorney Riser said at the end of his closing statement.
“In fact, it’s that broken system that has led us here, and it’s woven into the very fabric of this case.”
The City Council’s Progressive Caucus condemned the ruling in a statement, saying it “underscores deep societal malaise against unhoused people.”
“Jordan Neely has been failed by the city’s social services system for years,” the statement said. “When he was choked by Daniel Penny on the subway, he was failed by our city. And today, Jordan was failed again, this time by the city’s judicial system.”
But other Big Apple lawmakers praised the outcome of the high-profile and divisive case.
“Justice has prevailed,” said City Council member Joanne Arriola (R-Queens) after Monday’s ruling. “Daniel Penny was a hero, and I’m glad to see a good man not punished for doing the right thing and protecting his fellow New Yorkers from a mentally ill criminal who had fallen on hard times.”
