Prosecutors to charge ex-marine in chokehold killing of Jordan Neely on New York subway | CBC News

Manhattan prosecutors said Thursday that they will bring criminal charges against a man who used a deadly chokehold on an unruly passenger aboard a New York City subway train, an incident that stirred outrage and debates about the response to mental illness on the nation’s largest transit system.

Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran, will be arrested and face a charge of second degree manslaughter, which could carry a jail term of up to 15 years.

“We cannot provide any additional information until he has been arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, which we expect to take place tomorrow,” the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement.

The charges come nearly two weeks after Penny pinned fellow subway rider Jordan Neely, 30, to the floor of a subway car and put him in a chokehold that lasted for several minutes.

According to a freelance journalist who witnessed the struggle, Neely had been screaming and begging for money aboard the train before the takedown, but had not physically attacked anyone.

Penny’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

They previously said their client, along with two other riders who helped restrain Neely, had acted in self-defence.

“Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death,” they said in a statement.

Neely struggled with mental illness, friends said

A former subway performer known for his spot-on Michael Jackson impression, Neely struggled with homelessness and worsening mental illness in recent years, friends said. He had been arrested several times, and had recently pleaded guilty to assaulting a 67-year-old woman in 2021 as she left a subway station.

After pleading guilty, Neely missed a court date, leading to a warrant for his arrest that was still active when he died. His death has divided some in New York and beyond, triggering intense debates and protests.

Some described the killing as an act of racist vigilantism, invoking comparisons to the infamous subway shooting carried out by Bernhard Goetz against four teenagers in 1984.

Others, including Mayor Eric Adams, have urged caution, calling on New Yorkers to wait for the full facts and investigations.

They note that much is still not known about what precipitated the chokehold. As the investigation has continued, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has faced pressure to make an arrest.