Witness says she went back to ‘thank’ Daniel Penny after Jordan Neely chokehold death, is ‘praying’ for him
A straphanger who was on the subway when former Marine Daniel Penny placed Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold said Thursday she’s “praying” for Penny after it was revealed the 24-year-old would face charges tied to the high-profile case.
“I hope he has a great lawyer, and I’m praying for him,” the 66-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified, told The Post Thursday night. “And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do. Because after all of this ensued, I went back and made sure that I said ‘Thank you’ to him.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday afternoon Penny would be charged with second-degree manslaughter.
He is expected to surrender to authorities Friday morning.
The subway rider said Neely, who had a history of mental illness, was threatening passengers after he hopped on an F train in Manhattan.
“He said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet, I’ll go to jail’ because he would kill people on the train,” the woman said of Neely. “He said, ‘I would kill a motherf—er. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’ll go to jail.’”
The retiree said Penny did not initially engage with Neely during the wild rant until things got out of hand and he felt the urge to step in.
“This gentleman, Mr. Penny, did not stand up,” the rider said. “Did not engage with the gentleman. He said not a word. It was all Mr. Neely that was … threatening the passengers. If he did not get what he wants.”
Neely had a criminal history with more than 40 arrests, law enforcement sources previously told The Post.
“‘Gonna go to jail for life’? What? What penalties involve going to jail for life?” she wondered. “Could you tell me? Yeah, it’s not kicking somebody in the shin, or punching somebody in the face.”
The former Marine could face up to 15 years if convicted of the manslaughter charge.
His legal team said in a statement Thursday they were confident that once all the facts come out, Penny would be absolved of all wrongdoing.
They argued he was protecting himself and other passengers.
What we know about NYC subway choking victim Jordan Neely
Who was Neely?
Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man, was strangled aboard a northbound F train just before 2:30 p.m. May 1, according to police.
He reportedly started acting erratically on the train and harassing other passengers before being restrained and ultimately choked by a straphanger, identified as Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine from Queens.
Penny, who was seen on video applying the chokehold, was taken into custody and later released. He was eventually charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Why is there fallout over Neely’s death?
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, noting he died due to “compression of neck (chokehold).”
Neely’s aunt told The Post that he became a “complete mess” following the brutal murder of his mother in 2007. She noted he was schizophrenic and suffered from PTSD and depression.
“The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system,” Carolyn Neely said.
Who is Penny?
24-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny served as an infantry squad leader and an instructor in water survival while in the Marines Corps from 2017 to 2021, according to his online resume. Penny graduated from high school in West Islip, NY.
He surrendered to authorities 11 days after he placed Neely in a fatal chokehold on an F train.
Neely’s uncle, Christopher Neely, told The Post Thursday he doesn’t think the manslaughter charge went far enough and wanted to see Penny charged with murder.
Penny was originally questioned by police in the aftermath of the incident but then was cut loose. He’s expected to surrender Friday morning.
Neely’s death, which was ruled a homicide by the city medical examiner’s office, has sparked protest and anger across the Big Apple.
Footage from inside the subway car showed Penny and two other straphangers restrain Neely after cops and witnesses said he went on an aggressive rant.
The woman said she and another rider gave their account of the incident to authorities at the precinct because Penny asked them to. Other subway riders took videos of the encounter between Penny and Neely, she said.
“So I believe that those videos are going to come forward, maybe people will do it anonymously,” she said.
