Prosecutors in U.S. Marine veteran Daniel Penny‘s case, who pled not guilty on Wednesday in Jordan Neely’s subway chokehold death last month, said they have additional cellphone video from witnesses of the incident.
Penny has been accused of killing Neely in New York City last month after placing him in a chokehold on the floor of a Manhattan subway car. Witnesses said Neely was making threatening comments toward passengers on board the vehicle, prompting the U.S. Marine to subdue Neely.
“He was pacing back and forth on the car,” Penny said. “I came from behind and put him in a chokehold. People in the subway were afraid for their safety.”
Court documents filed on Wednesday reported by the New York Post said prosecutors claim they obtained at least five other cellphone videos from three separate witnesses in the deadly incident, which they plan to use as evidence in an upcoming trial.
The documents also state prosecutors have two witnesses’ videotaped statements, two MTA surveillance videos, and police body camera footage. Other disclosures in the documents from prosecutors include a videotaped statement that Penny made to police the day of the incident before authorities released him without charges.
“He came on, threw all his s*** down, was very aggressive, going crazy,” Penny told police, according to the court document. “I was behind him, put him in a choke,” adding Neely was “acting irate, dropping things on the floor, saying he doesn’t care if he goes to jail.”
Neely, a homeless man with over 40 arrests, had a known history of mental issues before he died. His most recent arrest happened in November 2021, when authorities charged him with felony assault after being accused of “slugging a 67-year-old female stranger in the face.”
After pleading guilty to the latter charge, Neely reportedly failed to appear in court, leading to an active warrant for his arrest at the time of his death.
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After Neely’s death, Penny surrendered to authorities on May 12.
Penny was indicted on June 14 after New York officials promised to investigate the incident. He pled not guilty to second-degree manslaughter and negligent homicide before being freed on $100,000 bail.
“Daniel Penny stands indicted for Manslaughter after allegedly putting Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold for several minutes until and after he stopped moving,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg said in a news release. “I hope Mr. Neely’s loved ones are on the path towards healing as they continue to mourn this tragic loss.”
Penny faces up to 19 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
“We are a long way off from trial, but all the evidence we’ve seen is that our client acted under the law,” said Thomas Keniff, a lawyer for Penny.
Penny’s defense team has consistently maintained his innocence, saying the evidence is in their favor.
“While we respect the decision of the grand jury to move this case forward to trial, it should be noted that the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low, and there has been no finding of wrongdoing,” Steven Raiser, also an attorney for Penny, said. “We’re confident that when a trial jury is tasked with weighing the evidence, they will find Daniel Penny’s actions on that train were fully justified.”
Attorneys for Neely’s family praised the indictment.
“The grand jury’s decision tells our city and our nation that ‘no one is above the law’ no matter how much money they raise, no matter what affiliations they claim, and no matter what distorted stories they tell in interviews,” Neely’s family lawyers said.
Penny is scheduled to appear in court next on October 25.
Leif Le Mahieu contributed to this report.