Jordan Neely’s family and lawyers say Daniel Penny should be charged with murder
Jordan Neely’s family and their attorneys recently recommended that Daniel Penny, the 24-year-old Marine veteran who put Neely in a deadly chokehold, faces tougher charges.
Neely, a 30-year-old black homeless man, was riding the F-train in New York on May 1 when Penny, with the help of other subway riders, strangled him. Witnesses said it was Neely “Shouting” about the fact that there was no food or water before Penny’s intervention.
On Thursday, Penny was charged with second-degree manslaughter, nearly two weeks after Neely’s death, which a coroner ruled was murder. If Penny is found guilty of manslaughter, she faces between five and 25 years in prison.
But lawyers for the Neely family say the current charges are inadequate.
“Is that enough for someone who choked on someone on the train and killed themselves?” Lennon Edwards, one of the Neely family’s attorneys, called at Friday’s press conference.
“Justice looks like a murder conviction,” Edwards said.
“We need full justice here and we urge us to keep moving forward until that happens,” Edwards added.
After the incident, Penny was interrogated by the police but was promptly released days of protests They demand accountability and justice.
Edwards said he and Neely’s family spoke to the district attorney prior to Penny’s arraignment, who told them there was “no timeline for an arrest” as evidence was still being collected. According to Edwards, however, there could be an indictment “maybe in June.”
“We told them that there is already enough evidence for an arrest. Enough information is already available for the judicial process to begin,” Edwards said during the press conference.
Witnesses told police that before Penny’s interference, Neely was acting erratically, screaming about hunger and fatigue.
“The man got on the subway and started giving a somewhat aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, he didn’t care, he didn’t care going to jail, he didn’t care that he gets a hefty life sentence,” said Juan Alberto Vazquez, who captured the incident on video. said NBC New York. “The ‘It doesn’t matter if I die.'”
On May 6, Penny and his attorneys released one opinion They claimed Neely had a “documented history of violent and erratic behavior” and that Penny, along with other passengers, “acted to protect herself” after Neely began “aggressively threatening” her.
“Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death,” the attorneys said in the statement.
But witnesses told prosecutors that Neely did not assault anyone. CBS News reports.
“Nobody on that train asked Jordan, ‘What’s going on?’ How can I help you?’ Instead, he was smothered,” Donte Mills, another attorney for the Neely family, said at the news conference.
Penny turned himself in on Friday and was released after posting bail later in the day. NPR reports. in one opinionPenny’s attorneys claimed he “intervened to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers” on the day of the incident and are confident he will be “fully cleared of any wrongdoing.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will release evidence to the grand jury, which will be used to determine whether Penny should be charged with manslaughter or other charges NPR. Penny is expected to appear in court in July.
“[Penny] I can’t rewrite how the story ends,” Edwards said. “The story ends with him putting his arms around Jordan’s neck and choking him, and he has to pay for that.”
