Daniel Penny, center, is walked by New York Police Department detectives out of the 5th Precinct, May 12, 2023, in New York. Penny, the man charged with manslaughter for putting an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold, has been indicted by a grand jury, an expected procedural step that will allow the criminal case to continue. AP Photo/Jeenah Moon, File
A grand jury has indicted a man who put an agitated New York City subway rider in a fatal chokehold, prosecutors confirmed Thursday.
Daniel Penny was initially charged with manslaughter last month in the May 1 death of Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who struggled in recent years with homelessness and mental illness.
A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed the grand jury voted to indict, a day after the news was widely reported. The specific charges will be unveiled during Penny’s arraignment on June 28th. He had initially been charged with manslaughter in the second degree, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, but a grand jury’s approval of charges was needed for the case to continue.
Neely was shouting at passengers and begging for money when Penny, a former U.S. Marine, pinned him to the floor of the moving subway car with the help of two other riders. Penny then held Neely in a chokehold that lasted more than three minutes until his body went limp.
Penny has said he was protecting himself and other passengers, claiming Neely shouted “I’m gonna’ kill you” and that he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life.
“He was yelling in their faces saying these threats,” Penny said in a video released by his attorneys this week. “I just couldn’t sit still.”
A freelance journalist who recorded Neely struggling to free himself, then lapsing into unconsciousness, said he was acting aggressively and frightening people but hadn’t assaulted anyone. Neely was Black. Penny is white.
Neely’s death prompted…
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