Jordan Neely’s family says ex-Marine ‘needs to be in prison’ for applying deadly chokehold

The family of Jordan Neely on Monday said ex-Marine Daniel Penny felt “entitled” to put the homeless Neely in a fatal chokehold when the two shared a May 1 subway ride in New York City, according to the family’s lawyers.

Attorneys for the Neely family released a statement that took issue with the characterization of events presented by Mr. Penny’s lawyer, who put out their own statement last week.

“Daniel Penny’s press release is not an apology nor an expression of regret. It is a character assassination,” attorneys Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards said on behalf of the Neely family.

“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 statement continued. “The truth is, he knew nothing about Jordan’s history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck and squeezed and kept squeezing.”

The Neely family attorneys concluded by saying Mr. Penny’s actions last week and later his statement “show why he needs to be in prison.” They also asked Mayor Eric Adams to call the family.

Attorneys from Raiser & Kenniff, the lawyers for Mr. Penny, expressed condolences for the Neely family in their statement before addressing Neely’s history of violent and erratic behavior and his mental health struggles.

“When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived,” the statement read. “Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death. 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.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office will decide whether to present a case to a grand jury this week, according to NBC News.

Freelance journalist Juan Alberto Vazquez captured the May 1 incident on video, which shows Mr. Penny, who is White, applying a chokehold on Neely, who is Black, while two other male passengers help restrain the homeless man.

The four-minute clip shows Neely initially struggling in the chokehold until he goes limp. The city’s medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide by way of pressure to the neck. 

Police said Neely was yelling at passengers and throwing garbage at them when the ex-Marine eventually seized the homeless man in the chokehold. Mr. Penny was interviewed at the scene and released without charges.

Mr. Vazquez reported that Neely got on the F train and whipped his jacket to the ground before he began ranting erratically.

“I don’t have food, I don’t have drink, I’m fed up. … I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. … I’m ready to die,” Mr. Vazquez quoted Neely as saying in his Facebook post that accompanied the video.

Neely had been a Michael Jackson impersonator at one time. He was arrested more than 40 times in the past decade, including for assaulting a woman in her 60s and kidnapping a 7-year-old girl.