Man Who Restrained Jordan Neely Along with Daniel Penny Said He Helped So Defendant Would 'Let Go'

Mar. 15, 2025

Daniel Penny, left, and Jordan Neely.Photo:Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

The trial ofDaniel Penny, the former Marinecharged with killing Jordan Neelyaboard a New York City subway, featured testimony from a man who helped the defendant restrain the victim.

“I said, ‘I’m going grab his hands so you can let go,’” Gonzalez said, according to theTimes.“If I held his arms down, he could let go of his neck.”

Penny, who is White, wascharged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, according to court records, after a 2023 incident that was captured on video. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Footage shows Penny, a Marine veteran who was 24 at the time of the incident, in a struggle with Neely, a Black man who was experiencing homelessness at the time, theTimesreported.

Neely, 30, boarded a northbound F train on May 1, 2023. In anews releaseannouncing Penny’s charges, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said that Neely began verbally threatening passengers once on board.

TheTimes, citing witnesses, reported that Neely — a once noted Michael Jackson impersonator — said he didn’t mind going back to jail and complained of being hungry.

The man told the court that even after helping Penny hold Neely down, the suspect did not release the victim, who eventually went limp. Gonzalez said he eventually let go before Penny eventually did too.

“I tried to shake Jordan Neely to get a response out of him,” Gonzalez reportedly testified.

Gonzalez said he then felt the then-unconscious Neely for a pulse before adding that he began to fear “that a person could die,” according to theTimes.

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Prosecutors say that Penny approached Neely from behind and put him in a chokehold for several minutes, the outlet reported, adding that eventually Neely’s body stopped moving and he was pronounced dead at a hospital.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Neely’s family said that they believe Penny “needs to be in prison.”

source: people.com