The Marine veteran charged with second-degree manslaughter after the death of a homeless man on the New York City Subway turned himself over to police custody Friday.
Daniel Penny, 24, turned himself into the 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan, less than 24 hours after the Manhattan District Attorney’s office revealed they would be pursuing charges against him in the choking death of 30-year-old Jordan Neely, the New York Post reported.
“He did so voluntarily and with the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service to this grateful nation,” one of Penny’s lawyers, Thomas Kenniff, told reporters, according to the outlet.
Daniel Penny has officially turned himself in to face a second degree manslaughter charge for the killing of Jordan Neely after a minutes long chokehold on the New York subway. pic.twitter.com/g1M756waHk
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) May 12, 2023
Penny stands accused of killing Neely after the latter boarded a Subway train and reportedly began acting aggressively towards passengers. In attempting to subdue Neely, Penny put the homeless man into a chokehold and held him until they arrived at the next station where emergency personnel were unable to revive him.
While Penny’s action were deemed vigilante by some, others – including those who were on the train with Neely, believe that Penny acted heroically. A 66-year-old subway passenger who witnessed the incident told the New York Post that she thanked Penny for stepping in, adding the Marine only did so when things got “out of hand.”
“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 passenger said of Neely, according to the outlet. “He said, ‘I would kill a motherf—er. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’ll go to jail.’
While Penny’s lawyers contend that the Marine never intended to harm Neely with his actions, Neely’s family and lawyers have declared that Penny showed “indifference” towards the man, arguing he should have attempted to help him. (RELATED: Sunny Hostin Says Mentioning Jordan Neely’s Arrest Record Is ‘Revictimizing’ Him)
”I hope he has a great lawyer, and I’m praying for him,” the 66-year-old Subway passenger said of Penny, according to the Post. “And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do.”