NYC Jury Acquits Subway Killer
- Details
- Category: Crime
- Published on Monday, 09 December 2024 11:23
- Written by Janet Walker
A New York jury has acquitted Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine, who had been charged with second degree murder and negligent homicide in the murder of Jordan Neely, a homeless, aggressive, subway performer, who died from a chokehold.
After a week of deliberations, a New York City jury notified the judge they were deadlocked and were unable to reach a unanimous decision in the case of Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine who placed an aggressive, menacing, homeless man, in a chokehold, killing him.
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According to USAToday.com, the judge presiding over the case "dismissed a charge of second-degree manslaughter in the death of Jordan Neely, leaving the jury to consider a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. Prosecutors asked the judge to dismiss the first more serious count after jurors remained deadlocked Friday afternoon."
The encounter between Penny, 26, and Neely, 30, unfolded on a downtown F train in May of 2023. Witnesses corroborate Penny's account that Neely appeared aggressive, took off his jacket and threw it to the floor, acting out in rage, and exasperation.
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For New York subway riders, his behavior may have appeared edgy, but for those riding the train, and particularly Penny, the behavior was combative and triggered a level of fear. Penny must have felt compelled to remove the threat and placed Neely in a chokehold, subduing the man, for several minutes, according to widely circulated videos of Penny's actions.
As Penny is Caucasian, and Neely, African American, Penny became a symbol for everything that is wrong in America, charged for a crime, during a high charged season of politics, and conversely Neely, became the symbol of the same. The Black Lives Matter movement, local leaders, and politicians called for Penny's arrest.
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"There were many people in the train who endorsed the intervention based on their own perspectives of fear," [Andrew] Cherkasky said. "If the passengers who lived through it saw it as a reasonable intervention, its hard for me to see why jurors would disagree with that," according to The Washington Post.
Jurors, who continued their deliberations today, found Penny not guilty of criminally negligent homicide.
