The Navy veteran who was seen on video fatally strangling Jordan Neely on a New York City subway turned himself in to the police department Friday to face criminal charges.
Daniel Penny, 24, was seen arriving at the 5th Precinct police station in Manhattan shortly after 8 am ET. Authorities said Thursday that he is expected to be charged with second-degree manslaughter.
He will be arraigned in Manhattan criminal court, the district attorney’s office said.
Cell phone video partially captured the May 1 incident on a northbound F train. showed penny on the ground holding Neely, 30, in a chokehold after an altercation.
Neely was homeless and was described as a subway busker who performed dance routines dressed as Michael Jackson. Juan Alberto Vázquez, a witness who filmed the cell phone footage, said NBC New York that Neely got on the train and “started making this kind of aggressive speech, saying he was hungry, he was thirsty, he didn’t care, he didn’t care about going to jail, he didn’t care about that he gets a big life sentence ”.
Neely was strangled for about 15 minutes, Vazquez said. The video showed two other subway riders appearing to help restrain Neely.
Penny’s lawyers also said that Neely was «aggressively threatening» the passengers and that Penny never intended to harm her. Neely’s family, however, rejected that version.
«This is an assassination of character and a clear example of why he believed he had the right to take Jordan’s life,» said attorneys for the family, Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards.
They also said that Neely suffered from mental illness «that began at the age of 14 when she experienced the brutal murder of her mother.»
A police spokesperson said multiple 911 calls were received about a physical fight and that Neely and Penny were involved in a «verbal dispute» that «developed into a physical altercation.»
«During the physical struggle between the two men, the 30-year-old man lost consciousness,» the spokesperson said earlier.
Neely was unconscious when officers arrived and pronounced him dead at the hospital, police said. The city medical examiner’s office said Neely died of «neck compression (strangulation)» and that the manner was a homicide.
Penny was briefly detained after the incident and released.
This is a developing story. Please check for updates.
jonathan dienst, andres siff and marc santia contributed.