Jordan Neely’s chokehold death on NYC subway: What has happened so far
The death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with a history of mental illness, on a New York City subway earlier this month has sparked outcry and protests in the past couple weeks.
Neely was pronounced dead in a hospital after 24-year-old Daniel Penny, a former Marine, placed him in a chokehold. Penny and his attorneys have argued that he was acting in his own defense and that of other passengers, while the lawyers for Neely’s family have said Neely did not pose any threat to anyone.
Neely’s death has shone a spotlight on how mental illness is treated in the country and on race relations, with Neely being Black and Penny white.
Here’s what has happened so far, beginning with the altercation on the subway:
May 1
Penny pinned Neely on the ground and placed him in a chokehold around 2:30 p.m., according to police, after the 30-year-old reportedly began yelling at passengers and behaving erratically. A witness has said Penny held Neely in the chokehold for about 15 minutes.
Neely lost consciousness and could not be resuscitated by medical responders, police said. He was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where he was declared deceased.
He was known locally for being a subway performer who often impersonated Michael Jackson.
Witnesses have said Neely was pacing in the train and yelling that he was hungry and thirsty and did not have much to live for, but he was not physically threatening or attacking anyone when Penny took him down. However, they also said he was acting erratically and hostilely.
Penny was initially questioned by detectives following the incident but was released from custody without charge. He told them he asked other passengers to call 911 as he restrained Neely, the New York-based ABC affiliate WABC reported, a story police said other passengers corroborated.
May 2
Video of the incident taken by a witness began to go viral on social media platforms and was reported in media outlets.
The video shows Neely struggling as Penny holds him on the ground in the chokehold. Two additional men also helped Penny hold Neely down, trying to keep his arms in place.
It also shows several bystanders around them watching what was happening.
A man off camera could be heard expressing concerns about the situation once Neely had passed out, telling Penny that Neely needed to be let go.
The videos stirred outrage online. Some argued that Penny majorly overreacted to someone who was clearly struggling with mental illness, while others defended Penny’s actions.
Additional witnesses began giving statements to media outlets to detail what they observed, mostly saying that Neely was acting in an aggressive manner but was not attacking anyone.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) said in his first public response to the incident that not enough was known to make a conclusion about what happened.
“We cannot just blatantly say what a passenger should or should not do in a situation like that, and we should allow the investigation to take its course,” he said on CNN.
May 3
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office confirmed it is investigating the incident. A spokesperson said the office would look into the medical examiner’s report on Neely’s cause of death, witness accounts and additional medical records.
The city medical examiner’s office determined that Neely’s death was a homicide and that he died by compression of the neck. But it noted that the legal system would determine any charges that would stem from the killing.
A group of protesters gathered in the station where Neely had died to call for an arrest to be made.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) slammed the killing on Twitter, arguing that Neely was murdered.
“But [because] Jordan was houseless and crying for food in a time when the city is raising rents and stripping services to militarize itself while many in power demonize the poor, the murderer gets protected w/ passive headlines + no charges,” she said.
Adams said in a statement that any loss of life is “tragic” but that he would refrain from commenting further because much remained unknown.
“However, we do know that there were serious mental health issues in play here, which is why our administration has made record investments in providing care to those who need it and getting people of the streets and the subways, and out of dangerous situations,” a spokesperson for his office said.
Adams received criticism from some over his approach to the situation, with critics arguing that he was hesitant to call out what was clear from the video.
Following the criticism, Adams later put out another statement saying that Neely should still be alive and calling his death a killing.
“His killing at the hands of a fellow passenger and the responses to this violence that took his life have been not only tragic but difficult to absorb. Racism that continues to permeate throughout our society allows for a level of dehumanization that denies Black people from being recognized as victims when subjected to acts of violence,” Adams said.
He said any mental health challenges that Neely was facing were not a reason for his life to be taken and called for accountability.
May 5
Attorneys representing Penny released a statement defending their client, emphasizing his history as a member of the military and saying that he did not intend to hurt Neely.
The law firm Raiser and Kenniff, P.C. said Neely was “aggressively threatening” Penny and the other passengers, leading Penny and others to protect themselves until help could arrive.
“Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death,” the statement reads. “For too long, those suffering from mental illness have been treated with indifference. We hope that out of this awful tragedy will come a new commitment by our elected officials to address the mental health crisis on our streets and subways.”
May 8
Neely’s family denounced the press release, saying it showed Penny was “acting with indifference” to Neely’s death.
"Daniel Penny's press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret. It is a character assassination, and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan's life. In the first paragraph he talks about how ‘good’ he is and the next paragraph he talks about how ‘bad’ Jordan was in an effort to convince us Jordan's life was ‘worthless,’” the family's attorneys said.
They said Penny’s actions on the subway and his words in the aftermath show why he needs to be in prison.
The attorneys also called on Adams to call the family to show them that “Jordan matters.”
May 11
A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney’s office confirmed that Penny was set to be charged with second-degree manslaughter. They said they expected Penny to be arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court the next day.
May 12
Penny voluntarily turned himself in to authorities to face his second-degree manslaughter charge. He did not enter a plea to the charge.
A judge allowed Penny to be released on $100,000 bond and ordered him to surrender his passport and not leave New York without approval. Prosecutors said they are seeking a formal indictment for Penny from a grand jury.
Penny could face up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted of the charge. He did not speak to reporters at the courthouse.
He spoke softly and stared straight ahead during the arraignment.
Penny is due for his next court appearance on July 17.