June 28th 2023.
Former U.S. Marine sergeant Daniel Penny, 24, pleaded not guilty in criminal court in lower Manhattan on Wednesday to charges of manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in relation to the death of a homeless man, Jordan Neely.
The incident, which occurred on May 1st on a subway car in Manhattan, gained national attention and sparked protests as Penny, who is white, was not arrested until more than a week after the death of Neely, who was black.
Penny's court appearance was brief, lasting only a few minutes. He was dressed in a blue suit and red tie, and was told to return to court on October 25th for a pretrial hearing. The former Marine had been released on a $100,000 bond at an earlier hearing.
The grand jury indicted Penny on a charge of manslaughter in the second degree, a felony with a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison on conviction, and a charge of criminally negligent homicide, a felony with a maximum sentence of five years.
Prior to the incident, Neely had been shouting about how hungry he was and that he was willing to return to jail or die, according to passengers in the subway car. Penny has stated that he acted in self-defense and did not intend to kill Neely.
Outside the courthouse after the hearing, one of Penny’s defense attorneys, Thomas Kenniff, said he believes New York jurors will be sympathetic to his client.
“There is not a living, breathing soul in Manhattan that has not experienced a variation of what not only Mr. Penny but other individuals experienced on that subway car,” Kenniff said.
The death of Neely has been met with controversy, with some hailing Penny as a hero, including Florida Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and other prominent Republican politicians who are critical of New York’s Democratic leadership. Donors have given nearly $3 million to a legal defense fund for Penny through a crowdsourcing website.
Donte Mills, a lawyer representing Neely’s family, addressed these supporters in his remarks outside the courthouse.
“For everyone who thought donating $3 million would somehow make this go away or buy his pass: It’s not going to happen,” Mills told reporters. “You can ask for a refund.”
Witnesses have reported that Neely did not physically threaten or attack anyone before Penny grabbed him. His death has reignited a debate about gaps in the city’s systems for homeless and mentally ill New Yorkers.
Neely had been in and out of the city’s homeless shelters in recent years; his relatives say his mental health had worsened dramatically after his mother was murdered when he was a teenager. He had been arrested many times, most recently for punching a 67-year-old woman in 2021, breaking bones in her face.
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