Horrified mom barricaded 5-year-old behind stroller to shield him from ‘unhinged’ Jordan Neely: testimony
A mother told Manhattan jurors Friday that she was so frightened of a “belligerent and unhinged” Jordan Neely that she barricaded her 5-year-old son behind his stroller, while another subway rider testified she was “scared s—tless” by the homeless man’s rantings.
Lori Sitro, a research director and mother of two, had been on the uptown F train taking her young son to a therapy appointment when she noticed a “commotion” from Neely, who had begun shouting, she said at the manslaughter trial of Marine vet Daniel Penny.
“He was shouting in people’s faces,” Sitro recalled of Neely, who she said yelled, “‘I don’t have water! I don’t have food! I don’t have a home! … I want to go to Rikers, I want to go to prison!’ “
Neely started “lunging” in different people’s directions, Sitro said, later demonstrating the movement for jurors.
“He was very erratic and unpredictable,” she said.
“It felt very scary,” the mother recalled. “It was increasingly loud, and it felt increasingly threatening. I would describe it as belligerent and unhinged. I actually took the stroller that I had and put it in front of my son to create a barrier of sorts.”
Sitro told the jury that she lived in the Big Apple for 30 years and had “seen a lot” riding the subways.
“I’ve seen unstable people. This felt different to me,” the mom explained.
Sitro acknowledged that Neely didn’t lunge at her or threaten to kill her, as Penny’s lawyer claimed Neely did in opening statements.
Still, once Penny intervened to stop Neely, Sitro said, “I felt very relieved because I was scared for my son.”
Sitro told the jurors it didn’t seem like Neely was resisting much against Penny — who put the disturbed man in a chokehold — and it didn’t seem like Neely’s breathing was in distress.
Sitro said she didn’t think Penny was trying to choke Neely and was “shocked” to learn he died from the May 1, 2023 takedown.
Another subway rider, Alethea Gittings, said she was “scared s—tless” when she heard a loud and raving Neely from further down the subway car on the uptown F train.
Gittings, a daily subway rider who’s lived in New York City for her entire adult life, said she heard Neely say, “I don’t give a damn. I will kill a motherf–ker. I’m ready to die.”
Gittings — who couldn’t fully see the encounter between Neely and Penny — said afterward she thanked the Marine veteran for stepping in.
Penny then asked her if she would give a statement to the police.
“Of course I will,” she recalled telling Penny.
Penny’s lawyer asked her on cross-examination if his client ever told her what to say to the authorities, to which Gittings replied: “Never.”
A third straphanger, Dan Couvreur, 29, said he was “terrified” by Neely that day and knew things were “going to be bad” as soon as Neely kicked off his alarming display by aggressively throwing his jacket on the floor.
Couvreur, a Brooklyn resident who started a tech company, said, “I wanted to be as far away as possible.
“I’ve ridden the subway to and from work. … This was another scale of the desperation he had in his voice, the anger, the aggressiveness,” Couvreur said of Neely.
“I was pretty terrified.”
Couvreur described seeing Penny take Neely down to the floor and then exiting the train as fast as he could once it stopped to notify the cops.
Later that day, he saw news of Neely’s death in an online Post article.
“I was shocked,” Couvreur said of the revelation.
Penny’s lawyers have said he shouldn’t be held criminally liable for Neely’s death since he was simply acting to protect other riders.
Prosecutors say Penny knew his actions could be deadly and continued with them anyway.
During the first four days of trial testimony, a slew of prosecution witnesses have described being panicked and fearful over Neely’s volatile behavior.
