New York City subway rider who fatally choked another man to surrender on manslaughter charge

Jordan Neely lost consciousness during the struggle on the subway train. Photo / via Twitter

A man who kept a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow passenger on a New York City subway, leading to the other rider’s death, is expected to turn himself in to authorities on a manslaughter charge that could send him to prison for 15 years.

Manhattan prosecutors announced on Thursday local time that they would bring the criminal charge against Daniel Penny, 24, a US Marine Corps veteran, in the May 1 death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely.

Neely’s death, captured on video by a freelance journalist, has raised an uproar over many issues, including how those with mental illness are treated by the transit system and the city, as well as crime and vigilantism.

Penny’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment after the prosecutors made their announcement. They have previously said Penny acted in self-defence.

New York police officers respond to the scene where a fight was reported on a subway train in New York. Photo / AP

According to an onlooker, Neely, who is Black, had been screaming and begging for money aboard the train, but had not got physical with anyone.

Penny, who is white, was questioned by police in the aftermath but was released without charges.

Friends of Neely said the former subway performer had been dealing with homelessness and mental illness in recent years. He had several arrests to his name, including a 2021 assault of a 67-year-old woman leaving a subway station.

A group of several hundred people protest the death of Jordan Neely at Washington Square Park in New York. Photo / AP

A second-degree manslaughter charge in New York will require the jury to find that a person has engaged in reckless conduct that creates an unjustifiable risk of death, and then consciously disregards that risk.

The law also requires that conduct to be a gross deviation from how a reasonable person would act in a similar situation.