Appearing before a New York magistrate on Friday after surrendering himself to authorities, Daniel Penny was informed he was charged with second-degree manslaughter in Jordan Neely’s death.
Penny has not yet entered a plea, as a grand jury has not yet indicted him. He was released on $100,000 bail and ordered to surrender his passport within 48 hours.
A former US Marine, Penny was not initially charged with the death of Neely on a New York F Train subway on May 1. However, after the medical examiner’s office found Neely died via compression of the neck, and following large street demonstrations demanding justice, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office found sufficient cause to charge him with Neely’s death.
Footage and testimonies from the scene showed Penny had held Neely in a chokehold for more than four minutes as Neely struggled to free himself before his body went limp, after which Penny held Neely in the position for another 50 seconds.
Penny’s identity was not initially known after the killing, as police released him without charge. After online sleuths purported to have identified him several days later, Penny’s lawyers released a statement on his behalf expressing regret for Neely’s death. The New York Police Department then confirmed his identity to the press.
Demonstrations in that California city have demanded security footage of the incident be released, and similar to those following Neely’s death, have called attention to the plight of homeless people amid rising costs of living driven upward by record inflation.