Daniel Penny trial: Jury selection begins in NYC subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely

NEW YORK CITY – Jury selection began today in the criminal trial of Daniel Penny, the U.S. Marine Corps veteran accused of placing homeless man Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold last year on a NYC subway train.

Daniel Penny case

The 25-year-old Penny is accused of “recklessly causing the death” of Neely, a 30-year-old former street performer who witnesses said was acting erratically on the train back on May 1, 2023, when Penny moved to restrain him.

Penny, who served four years in the Marines before being discharged in 2021, has been free on a $100,000 bond. The trial is expected to last between four and six weeks.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter and up to four years if convicted of criminally negligent homicide.

Timeline of events: Who is Daniel Penny?

The case stems from a May 1, 2023 altercation on the F subway train in Manhattan, where witnesses say Neely was shouting and demanding money when Penny approached him.

According to prosecutors, Penny pinned Neely to the ground with the help of two other passengers and placed him in a chokehold for over three minutes. Video of the incident showed Penny trying to subdue Neely by placing him in a chokehold. 

Neely struggled in the chokehold for several minutes, after which he was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital and pronounced dead. The medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide caused by compression of the neck.

Eleven days after the fatal incident, Penny turned himself in to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Family members say Neely was homeless and struggled with drug addiction and mental health issues. 

Penny’s lawyers have argued that the Long Island native didn’t intend to kill Neely, just to hold him down long enough for police to arrive. Penny has claimed Neely shouted, “I’m gonna’ kill you” and that he was “ready to die” or go to jail for life.

Penny’s attorney, Steven Raiser, said the defense plans to offer up other potential causes for Neely’s death, including high levels of the synthetic cannabinoid known as K2 found in his body.

“What the jury is also gonna know about is that he [Neely] is high on K2, which is a very, very dangerous drug that has historically made people act violently, erratically, suicidal, you name it,” Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, said in a Monday appearance on Good Day New York.

Meanwhile, prosecutors, in their court filings, have argued that Penny’s actions were reckless and negligent even if he didn’t intend to kill Neely. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office declined to comment ahead of the trial.

“The government failed Mr. Neely,” Raiser said on GDNY. “Because he was having mental health breakdowns in the subway system, high on K2 because he was attempting to self-medicate himself after having a long, long history of criminal offenses that involve violence,” Raiser said.

The dramatic scene caused a fierce debate and divide between those who believed Penny acted heroically and others who believed he showed excessive force.

Who was Jordan Neely?

Neely had earned money imitating Michael Jackson in the past, but was homeless at times.

Jordan Neely is pictured before going to see the Michael Jackson movie, “This is It,” outside the Regal Cinemas in Times Square in 2009. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Street performers who knew Neely described him as a kind and gifted impressionist who sank into a depression as a result of his mother’s 2007 death. According to news accounts at the time, Christie Neely was strangled.  Neely, who was 14 when she died, testified against his mother’s boyfriend at the murder trial.

Neely did have a criminal record with a history of 44 prior arrests – many of them subway related, including disorderly, conduct, assault, and fare evasion. 

PHILIP MARCELO, with the Associated Press wire services, helped contribute to this report.