Jonathan Allen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former U.S. Marine sergeant who fatally strangled Jordan Neely on a New York City subway was indifferent to Neely’s humanity and continued to unnecessarily strangle him for more than five minutes, prosecutors have told a jury. said to
Daniel Penny, 26, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and manslaughter charges and said he never intended to kill Nealy. He said Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, threatened passengers before intervening on an Uptown train on May 1, 2023.
District Attorney Dafna Yoran told the jury in her opening statement: “His initial attempt to protect his fellow New Yorkers from a perceived threat is commendable.” “But deadly physical force is only permitted when absolutely necessary and only to the extent necessary, and here the defendant went too far.”
The murder attracted widespread public attention, with many seeing Neely, who was black, as the victim of a vigilante group. Others, including some Republican politicians, praised Penny, who is white, as a hero.
Yoran described Neely as the kind of homeless person with a mental illness that New Yorkers are trained to ignore. Once on the train, Neely threw his coat on the floor and screamed that he was hungry, thirsty, and wanted to go back to prison. Witnesses will tell jurors it was scarier than a typical New York subway incident, Yoran said.
“His voice was loud and his words were threatening,” Yoran told jurors. Although they were not armed and did not physically threaten any individuals. Within 30 seconds of Neely boarding the subway car, Penny came up behind him and used her left arm to squeeze Neely’s neck.
“He literally went for the jugular,” Yoran said. Moments later, the train arrived at the station, almost everyone got out of the car, and Penny continued to strangle Neely on the floor of the subway car for 5 minutes and 53 seconds, even after Neely had lost consciousness.
Judges will watch cell phone video recorded on the platform. Yoran said Penny had first aid training as a Marine and knew the chokehold he used could be fatal.
“You will see Mr. Neely’s life taken away before your eyes, but what you will also see in this video is how unnecessary this fatal strangulation was,” Yoran said. She noted that two men stayed in the car to help Penny restrain Neely.
“With the police clearly on their way and the train almost empty, the defendant’s strangulation of Jordan Neely had just begun,” Mr Yoran said.
Penny’s attorney was also scheduled to make opening statements Friday.
