(Trends Wide) — Daniel Penny, a US Navy veteran, is expected to turn himself in to police this Friday morning and face a manslaughter charge, according to two sources familiar with the case.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday that 24-year-old Penny will be arrested and charged with manslaughter.
“We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we hope will take place (this Friday),” the spokesperson added.
Penny’s lawyers said they are confident he will be “fully cleared of any wrongdoing” and said he risked his life for others on the subway on May 1.
“When Mr. Penny, a decorated Navy veteran, stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers, his well-being was not assured,” the law firm of Raiser and Kenniff, PC, said in a statement. “He risked his own life and safety, for the sake of his fellow travelers. The unfortunate result was the unintended and unplanned death of Mr. Neely.”
Jordan Neely was a New York street performer known for his Michael Jackson impersonations. (Credit: Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service/Getty Images)
Penny held Neely, 30, in the Manhattan subway car after Neely began screaming that she was hungry, thirsty, and had little to live for. Neely was pronounced dead at a hospital.
His death was ruled a homicide, although the designation does not mean intent or culpability, a spokesman for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said earlier this week, noting at the time that it was a matter to be determined by the criminal justice system.
Neely had been “acting erratically” before the incident, but had not attacked anyone on the train before he was choked to death, a witness who recorded the encounter told Trends Wide earlier this month.
Neely’s death sparked protests and refocused attention on the fights against homelessness and mental illness across America.
The prosecution decision came Thursday afternoon after the prosecutor’s office spent the weekend and much of this week reviewing the accounts of witnesses who were on the train, as well as video of the incident, according to sources. familiar with the case.
Trends Wide reached out to attorneys representing Neely’s family Thursday for comment on the latest developments.
This photo from video of the incident shows Daniel Penny, before he strangled Jordan Neely. (Credit: Courtesy of Juan Alberto Vázquez)
What we know about Jordan Neeley
Neely’s family criticized Penny’s “indifference” and called for her jailing. “He did not know anything about Jordan’s story when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing,” the family’s lawyers said.
Neely, who became known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had experienced mental health problems since 2007, when he was 14 and his mother was murdered, his family’s lawyers said. He was traumatized after the brutal murder of his mother was followed by the discovery of his body in a suitcase, his friend Moses Harper told Trends Wide.
Neely has apparently fallen on hard times in recent years, according to a friend and relative.
Prior to his death, Neely had been on a New York City Department of Homeless Services list of the city’s acute needs homeless, sometimes referred to internally as the “Top 50” list, because the people on the list tend to disappear, a source told Trends Wide.
The list is typically not made public, but is compiled in the hope that outreach organizations will keep an eye out for such individuals and alert the city’s department of homeless services to intervene, the source said. The agency is additionally focused on trying to find those on the list and getting them the help they need, the source explained.
Penny is a veteran who served in the US Navy, according to military and police records. He was a sergeant and served from 2017 to 2021, with his last duty assignment being at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, military records show.
Penny’s lawyers said in a statement last week that Neely had been “aggressively threatening” passengers and that Penny and others had “acted to protect themselves.” “Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely,” they said.
A law enforcement source previously told Trends Wide that detectives had interviewed Penny.
— Trends Wide’s Ray Sanchez, Artemis Moshtagian, Maria Santana, Liam Reilly, Alisha Ebrahimji and Steve Forrest contributed to this report.
(Trends Wide) — Daniel Penny, a US Navy veteran, is expected to turn himself in to police this Friday morning and face a manslaughter charge, according to two sources familiar with the case.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday that 24-year-old Penny will be arrested and charged with manslaughter.
“We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we hope will take place (this Friday),” the spokesperson added.
Penny’s lawyers said they are confident he will be “fully cleared of any wrongdoing” and said he risked his life for others on the subway on May 1.
“When Mr. Penny, a decorated Navy veteran, stepped in to protect himself and his fellow New Yorkers, his well-being was not assured,” the law firm of Raiser and Kenniff, PC, said in a statement. “He risked his own life and safety, for the sake of his fellow travelers. The unfortunate result was the unintended and unplanned death of Mr. Neely.”
Jordan Neely was a New York street performer known for his Michael Jackson impersonations. (Credit: Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service/Getty Images)
Penny held Neely, 30, in the Manhattan subway car after Neely began screaming that she was hungry, thirsty, and had little to live for. Neely was pronounced dead at a hospital.
His death was ruled a homicide, although the designation does not mean intent or culpability, a spokesman for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said earlier this week, noting at the time that it was a matter to be determined by the criminal justice system.
Neely had been “acting erratically” before the incident, but had not attacked anyone on the train before he was choked to death, a witness who recorded the encounter told Trends Wide earlier this month.
Neely’s death sparked protests and refocused attention on the fights against homelessness and mental illness across America.
The prosecution decision came Thursday afternoon after the prosecutor’s office spent the weekend and much of this week reviewing the accounts of witnesses who were on the train, as well as video of the incident, according to sources. familiar with the case.
Trends Wide reached out to attorneys representing Neely’s family Thursday for comment on the latest developments.
This photo from video of the incident shows Daniel Penny, before he strangled Jordan Neely. (Credit: Courtesy of Juan Alberto Vázquez)
What we know about Jordan Neeley
Neely’s family criticized Penny’s “indifference” and called for her jailing. “He did not know anything about Jordan’s story when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing,” the family’s lawyers said.
Neely, who became known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had experienced mental health problems since 2007, when he was 14 and his mother was murdered, his family’s lawyers said. He was traumatized after the brutal murder of his mother was followed by the discovery of his body in a suitcase, his friend Moses Harper told Trends Wide.
Neely has apparently fallen on hard times in recent years, according to a friend and relative.
Prior to his death, Neely had been on a New York City Department of Homeless Services list of the city’s acute needs homeless, sometimes referred to internally as the “Top 50” list, because the people on the list tend to disappear, a source told Trends Wide.
The list is typically not made public, but is compiled in the hope that outreach organizations will keep an eye out for such individuals and alert the city’s department of homeless services to intervene, the source said. The agency is additionally focused on trying to find those on the list and getting them the help they need, the source explained.
Penny is a veteran who served in the US Navy, according to military and police records. He was a sergeant and served from 2017 to 2021, with his last duty assignment being at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, military records show.
Penny’s lawyers said in a statement last week that Neely had been “aggressively threatening” passengers and that Penny and others had “acted to protect themselves.” “Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely,” they said.
A law enforcement source previously told Trends Wide that detectives had interviewed Penny.
— Trends Wide’s Ray Sanchez, Artemis Moshtagian, Maria Santana, Liam Reilly, Alisha Ebrahimji and Steve Forrest contributed to this report.
