Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of criminally negligent homicide in the death of Jordan Neely by subway chokehold.
It comes after Friday morning jurors told the court they were unable to reach an agreement on the top charge — second-degree manslaughter — and prosecutors moved to dismiss it, prompting the judge to allow them only to deliberate the second charge.
Penny is a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student. He was charged with criminally negligent homicide and manslaughter for the subway chokehold death of Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who barged onto the train shouting death threats while high on K2 — a type of synthetic marijuana.
Penny’s side of the courtroom broke out in cheers, prompting an angry response from Neely’s side, including Andre Zachary, his father, who was escorted from the courthouse along with several Black Lives Matter leaders after allegedly snapping.
After someone clapped, Zachary turned and glared, saying, “Are you trying to f—ing get killed?”
Leader of BLM’s New York chapter, Hank Newsome, commented, “It’s a small world.” Others on the Neely side of the courtroom were seen crying following the verdict.
The incident occurred on May 1, 2023. Neely barged onto an F train in Manhattan, yelling death threats. Witnesses testified Neely’s threats frightened them more than a typical outburst on the subway would. They were grateful for Penny’s intervention.
Neely had a long criminal record, a history of psychosis, an active arrest warrant, and was high in K2 — a synthetic form of marijuana that pathologists described as a stimulant. Additionally, he had the sickle cell trait genetic disorder.
Only three days earlier, a straphanger had been stabbed on a J train with an ice pick, according to reports from the time. Additionally, it was around a month after a PBS reporter was sucker punched on a No. 4 grain. There was a shove a week prior to that. The victim in that incident hit the side of a moving R train but survived.
In a fear-filled climate, witnesses said they were terrified by Neely, who shouted death threats at them.
Ivette Rosario, a 19-year-old student and witness, testified Neely shouted someone would “die that day.”
“I got scared by the tone that he was saying it,” said Rosario. “I have seen situations, but not like that.”
Penny raised concerns about a series of subway shovings
In a voluntary interview with police following the incident, Penny raised concerns about a series of subway shoving incidents involving mentally ill individuals on the city’s transit system.
“He was talking gibberish…but these guys are pushing people in front of trains and stuff,” said Penny to detectives. There were over 20 subway shoes in the year before Penny’s encounter with Neely.
Penny was released without charges after the interview.
However, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg secured a grand jury indictment days later, and Penny was arrested on May 12.
Jurors deliberated Tuesday for a little less than four hours and all day Wednesday, sending numerous notes to the judge. Among the items they asked for were videos of Penny’s interview with police and the chokehold, along with the judge’s instructions regarding the justification of physical force and definitions of negligence and recklessness.
Penny would have faced a maximum sentence of four years in prison if convicted of the lesser charge.
