A Marine veteran will be charged with manslaughter in the second degree in the chokehold death of a man on a subway train, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said in a statement to CBS News. Jordan Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator who was homeless, died after being put in a chokehold by Daniel Penny earlier this month.
Penny is expected to be arraigned Friday, the district attorney’s office said.
A video lasting nearly 3 minutes shows Penny, 24, on the floor of a subway car with Neely, 30, in a chokehold. Witnesses said Neely was acting erratically on the train and screaming about being hungry and tired but didn’t attack anyone.
The New York City medical examiner’s office ruled Neely’s death a homicide. Penny was initially questioned by police and released without being charged, CBS New York reported.
In the days following Neely’s death, attorneys representing Penny said Neely was “aggressively threatening” their client and that he and other passengers “acted to protect themselves.”
“Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death,” Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser said in a May 5 statement.
Attorneys for Neely’s family said Penny should be sent to prison.
“He never attempted to help him at all,” Lennon Edwards and Donte Mills said in a May 8 statement.
The case sparked days of protests by demonstrators calling for justice for Neely.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
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