Former Marine Daniel Penny was arrested in New York on May 12 in the death of Jordan Neely. BRENDAN MCDERMID (Portal)
A Manhattan grand jury voted Wednesday to indict Daniel Penny in the May death of Jordan Neely. The clear route to the allegation was confirmed to the CBSNews news chain by the victim’s family attorney. The white ex-Marine was charged with involuntary manslaughter a month ago for suffocating black Neely on an F train on the New York City subway on May 1. The victim, a homeless man with mental health issues living with street impersonations of Michael Jackson, suffered an outburst in the train car and was choked to death by Penny while a passenger recorded the scene on his cell phone.
The delay in bringing charges against Penny, who was released without charge after making a statement on the day in question, had heightened sentiment in New York, with widespread protests at the alleged passivity of the judiciary – Penny was not arrested until nearly two weeks later –. while the hard wing of the Republicans made him the symbol of an attack on the Democrats, who control the city’s institutions. The issue of race also emerged as a grievance and became a weapon between the two sides.
Penny, a 24-year-old former Marines sergeant, reduced Neely, 30, who had suffered a crisis minutes earlier and was vocal in complaining about how hungry he was and how dangerous he was across multiple police departments in terms of witnesses. The killing ignited debate about the notorious failings of the city’s support systems for the homeless or mentally ill in a legislature dominated by Mayor Eric Adams, which was marked by cuts to some welfare programs and by proposals such as his attempt to bring terminally ill patients against their will in refer hospitals. Neely met both conditions because not only was he homeless, but he also had a documented history of untreated psychiatric disorders and a history of misdemeanors and misdemeanors, such as sneaking on the subway.
The former Marine, whose lawyers opened an account on a far-right association portal to raise funds for the defense, asserted that he acted in self-defense and in defense of other passengers on the train and that he had no intention of causing Neely’s death . Witnesses in the car emphasized that the victim did not threaten or physically assault anyone before Penny attacked him with the aforementioned key around his neck.
Penny turned himself in in mid-May and made his first appearance before the Manhattan Criminal Court on involuntary manslaughter nearly two weeks after the incident. She was subsequently released on $100,000 bail. The charges contained in the grand jury indictment will soon be dropped, according to local media. If convicted, Penny faces up to 15 years in prison under New York law. The Manhattan Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
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