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The New York Metropolis subway rider accused within the chokehold demise of a homeless man is a U.S. Marine veteran who was appearing to guard himself and different riders and by no means supposed hurt, his legal professionals stated Friday night.
Daniel J. Penny, 24, has been recognized by authorities as the person who allegedly put Jordan Neely in a chokehold following what police stated was an altercation Monday on a northbound F practice, in line with two legislation enforcement officers conversant in the investigation.
“When Mr. Neely started aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the opposite passengers, Daniel, with the assistance of others, acted to guard themselves, till assist arrived,” legal professionals for Penny stated in an announcement Friday night. “Daniel by no means supposed to hurt Mr. Neely and couldn’t have foreseen his premature demise.”
Neely, 30, was unconscious when police arrived on the Broadway and East Houston Avenue subway station, and pronounced lifeless at a hospital, New York police stated.
He died from “compression of neck (chokehold)” and the style was murder, town chief medical expert’s workplace stated. Penny was taken into custody Monday, questioned by police and launched. No costs have been filed in opposition to him.
Lawmakers and others requested why he was not held by legislation enforcement authorities longer.
On Friday, two sources conversant in the matter stated Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg is predicted to current the case to a grand jury for its consideration of doable costs. The timing of when costs may materialize or when the case would in any other case shut with out prosecution was not clear.
Penny’s legal professionals stated Neely had a documented historical past of violent and erratic habits, the obvious results of ongoing and untreated psychological sickness.
“For too lengthy, these affected by psychological sickness have been handled with indifference,” the Raiser and Kenniff legislation agency stated in its assertion on behalf of Penny. “We hope that out of this terrible tragedy will come a brand new dedication by our elected officers to deal with the psychological well being disaster on our streets and subways.”
The incident, partly captured on cellphone video, has sparked a nationwide debate, with folks denouncing vigilantism and some politicians demanding officers do extra to deal with homelessness, psychological well being and violence on subways. Neely, a subway busker who carried out dance routines in costume as Michael Jackson, suffered from psychological sickness, attorneys for his household stated.
Who’s Daniel Penny?
Penny graduated from West Islip Excessive College on Lengthy Island, New York, in 2016, a district spokesperson stated Friday with out disclosing further particulars.
He served within the Marines between June 2017 and June 2021 within the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, and 2nd Marine Division, in line with a spokesperson. He rose to the rank of sergeant and his final responsibility task was at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Penny was awarded two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons and 5 medals, together with the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal and the International Battle on Terrorism Service Medal.
In an announcement, a spokesman for the Marines stated the service department was conscious of what occurred on the practice and would “cooperate with the businesses investigating this incident if requested.”
However he added that the Marines couldn’t affirm {that a} former service member was concerned within the incident, saying that he was “merely confirming that an individual with the identify you’ve introduced us has served within the Marine Corps.”
After the army, Penny enrolled in school however dropped out as a result of he felt “fully unfulfilled” and as a substitute backpacked by Central America, in line with his profile on Harri, a recruitment and workforce administration platform for the hospitality trade. He was on the lookout for work as a bartender in Manhattan, the profile says.
Extra on Jordan Neely’s chokehold demise
A number of 911 calls
A police spokesman stated officers had been known as to the station after they received a 911 name a few bodily struggle.
“Additional investigation revealed the 30-year-old was concerned in a verbal dispute with the 24-year-old male and it escalated right into a bodily altercation,” the spokesperson stated in a telephone name earlier this week. “Throughout the bodily wrestle between the 2 males, the 30-year-old male misplaced consciousness.”
Two sources conversant in the matter say there have been a minimum of 5 911 calls concerning the incident, together with preliminary studies of a homeless man some discovered to be threatening in his mannerisms and quantity.
Juan Alberto Vazquez was on the practice and partly captured the altercation on his cellphone. The video, extensively considered, doesn’t present what occurred earlier than the chokehold.
He advised NBC New York that Neely received on the practice and “started to say a considerably aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, that he didn’t care about something, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care that he will get a giant life sentence.”
Some witnesses stated that Neely allegedly acted very aggressively towards different riders and threatened to hurt them, the information station reported. Vazquez stated Neely was held within the chokehold place for about quarter-hour.
A legislation agency employed by Neely’s household stated he suffered from psychological sickness “which started at age 14 when he skilled the brutal homicide of his mom.”
His mom, Christine Neely, was killed in 2007, stuffed inside a suitcase and left on the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York, NJ.com reported. Her boyfriend, Shawn Southerland, was convicted at a trial that Neely, then 18, testified in. He advised the courtroom that he tried to say goodbye to his mom earlier than college on April 4, 2007, however Southerland refused to let him enter the bed room. Neely stated later that day Southerland packed up and left, in line with the information outlet. Southerland was sentenced to 30 years in jail.
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