Who Is Daniel Penny? The F Train Case, Trial, and Verdict

Daniel Penny is a former U.S. Marine sergeant from Long Island who, on May 1, 2023, placed a homeless man named Jordan Neely in a fatal chokehold aboard a Manhattan F train. He was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, and in December 2024 a Manhattan jury acquitted him. The case turned Penny into one of the most polarizing figures in recent New York criminal law, embraced by conservative politicians and denounced by civil rights advocates.

Background Before the Subway

Penny grew up in West Islip, New York, and graduated from West Islip High School in 2016. At seventeen he enlisted in the Marine Corps.¹

He served from 2017 to 2021, stationed at Camp Lejeune as a rifleman and deployed to the Mediterranean with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.² He rose to sergeant and received the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal before his discharge in June 2021. His training included the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, where he earned a green belt and learned techniques including “blood chokes” designed to restrict blood flow through the carotid arteries and render a person unconscious.³

After leaving the military, Penny moved to New York City. He lived in the East Village, enrolled at the New York City College of Technology to study architecture, worked at a Brooklyn restaurant, and taught swim lessons at a gym.⁴ His older sister, Jacqueline, described the family as close-knit and said he had been “always patriotic” from a young age.¹ A childhood friend, Alexandra Fay, testified at his trial that she considered him honest and principled.⁵

What Happened on the F Train

On May 1, 2023, Penny was riding a northbound F train in Manhattan when Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man in the midst of a mental health crisis, began shouting at passengers. Witnesses told police that Neely screamed about being hungry and thirsty, said he did not care if he died or went to jail, and made statements that riders interpreted as threats to kill.⁶ One daily commuter later testified that she believed Neely was armed and told the court, “There was a moment where I thought I was truly going to die.”⁷ Another witness described lunging movements from Neely that prompted her to shield her child.⁸

Penny grabbed Neely from behind and put him in a chokehold. A second passenger, Eric Gonzalez, helped restrain Neely’s arms and later testified that he told Penny he would hold Neely’s hands so Penny could release the neck hold.⁹ Cellphone video recorded by a high school student named Ivette Rosario captured what prosecutors said was roughly six minutes of restraint, including a period after the train had stopped at a station and after Neely had gone limp. On the recording, an unseen bystander says, “He’s dying. Let him go!”⁸

Neely was pronounced dead. The New York City medical examiner ruled the cause of death a homicide resulting from compression of the neck.¹⁰ Body camera footage showed Penny telling officers, “I put him out.” An officer who searched Neely’s body testified that the only item in his pockets was a muffin.⁹ Penny was questioned by police and released without being arrested, a decision that quickly became a flashpoint.

Who Jordan Neely Was

Neely was a lifelong New Yorker known for performing as a Michael Jackson impersonator on subway trains, moonwalking for tips.⁶ When he was fourteen, his mother, Christie Neely, was murdered by her boyfriend. Relatives said his wellbeing deteriorated sharply afterward, and he spent time in foster care before aging out at twenty-one.¹¹

He lived with severe depression, PTSD, autism, and schizophrenia, and cycled between shelters, the street, and the subway system. City records placed him on a list of the top fifty homeless New Yorkers deemed most urgently in need of outreach. Over a decade he accumulated 42 arrests on charges including assault, disorderly conduct, drug use, and fare evasion, along with 43 emergency calls related to his mental or physical health. In 2021 he was arrested for punching a 67-year-old woman in the head and was held at Rikers Island. A judge released him on a plea deal that required fifteen months of inpatient treatment, but he left the facility after thirteen days.¹¹

The Charges and the Trial

On June 28, 2023, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Penny on two counts: second-degree manslaughter, a Class C felony carrying up to fifteen years in prison, and criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony carrying up to four years.¹² He pleaded not guilty.

Jury selection began October 21, 2024, before Judge Maxwell Wiley. The prosecution, led by Senior Trial Counsel Joshua Steinglass and Assistant D.A. Jillian Shartrand, called more than thirty witnesses over roughly six weeks.¹³

Prosecutors conceded Penny may have been initially justified in using some force, but argued he crossed into recklessness by compressing Neely’s neck for about six minutes, continuing after the train stopped and after Neely stopped moving. “You obviously cannot kill someone because they are crazy and ranting and looking menacing, no matter what it is that they are saying,” one prosecutor told the jury.¹⁴ Medical examiner Dr. Cynthia Harris testified that Neely died of asphyxia from neck compression and called the chokehold the “sole cause” of death.¹⁵ A Marine Corps combat instructor who had trained Penny, Joseph Caballer, testified that Penny used the chokehold in an “improper” manner, and said the video appeared to show Penny’s forearm pressing against Neely’s trachea rather than the carotid arteries.³

Defense attorneys Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser argued that Penny acted to protect fellow passengers from a man in an “unhinged rage” who had threatened to kill people, and described the hold as a “simple civilian restraint” rather than a military technique.¹⁴ Their forensic pathologist, Dr. Satish Chundru, testified that Neely died from the “combined effects” of synthetic marijuana in his system, schizophrenia, the physical struggle, and a sickle cell trait, and answered “No” when asked directly whether the chokehold caused Neely’s death.¹⁶ Penny did not testify.¹⁷

The Verdict

Jurors deliberated more than 24 hours across five days, sending roughly ten notes requesting readbacks and definitions of terms including “justified use of force,” “criminal negligence,” “recklessness,” and “reasonable person.”¹⁸

On December 6, 2024, the jury sent two notes saying it was deadlocked on the second-degree manslaughter charge. Judge Wiley first issued an Allen charge instructing jurors to keep deliberating, then, at prosecutors’ unusual request, dismissed the manslaughter count so the jury could move to the lesser charge. Defense attorney Kenniff twice requested a mistrial, arguing the move could produce a “coercive or a compromised verdict.” Judge Wiley denied both motions.¹⁹

On December 9, 2024, the jury acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide. The courtroom erupted in a mix of cheers and jeers. Penny briefly smiled, and his attorneys embraced. Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, cursed in anger and was removed by a court officer.¹⁸ Outside, protesters chanted “no justice, no peace.”⁸

Reaction, Politics, and Life After

Reaction split sharply along political and racial lines. Penny is white; Neely was Black. City Council President Adrienne Adams linked the initial lack of an arrest to “racism that continues to permeate through our society,” and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Neely’s death a “murder.”¹⁰ After the acquittal, Reverend Al Sharpton said Neely’s life had been “brutally taken away because of unnecessary vigilantism,” and Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, said, “We did not get justice once again.” Neely family attorney Donte Mills said the jury “let us down.”²⁰

Republican officials rallied to Penny. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the acquittal “just” and “correct,” and New York Congressman Mike Lawler said Penny should never have been charged.²⁰ Five days after the verdict, Vice President-elect JD Vance invited Penny to sit in President-elect Donald Trump’s suite at the Army-Navy football game, calling him a “good guy” and saying Manhattan’s district attorney had “tried to ruin his life for having a backbone.”²¹ A GiveSendGo campaign for Penny’s legal defense raised more than $2.8 million from roughly 57,000 donors.²²

In February 2025, the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz hired Penny as a deal partner on its “American Dynamism” team, which oversees a fund of more than $600 million focused on aerospace, defense, and manufacturing. Partner David Ulevitch, who recruited him, told the firm’s investors that Penny had “acted with courage in a tough situation” and that his military background would help build relationships with veterans, active-duty service members, and law enforcement leaders in the firm’s portfolio. The firm acknowledged it would teach him the investing business.²³

Penny’s criminal exposure ended with the acquittal, but the case is not fully closed. On December 4, 2024, Andre Zachery filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Penny in New York Supreme Court, alleging negligence, assault, and battery.²⁴ Penny’s legal team has demanded dismissal, and as of early 2025 the suit remained pending.²⁵

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NBC New York. Who Is Daniel Penny? Marine Veteran Charged With Manslaughter in Jordan Neely Chokehold Case
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Task and Purpose. Daniel Penny Marine Corps Jordan Neely New York Subway Killing
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CBS News New York. Daniel Penny NYC Subway Chokehold Death Trial Martial Arts Instructor
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CBS News New York. Who Is Daniel Penny
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NBC News. Prosecution Rests, Defense Calls First Witnesses in Trial
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ABC News. Jordan Neely, Man Killed in NYC Subway Chokehold Death
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CBS News New York. Daniel Penny Subway Chokehold Death Trial Witnesses
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BBC News. Daniel Penny Acquitted in NYC Subway Chokehold Case
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ABC News. Daniel Penny’s Subway Chokehold Trial Key Takeaways
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NPR. How Jordan Neely’s Death Fits Into Issues of Health, Homelessness, and Public Safety
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The Guardian. Jordan Neely New York Social Services Support Mental Health
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Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. D.A. Bragg Announces Manslaughter Indictment of Daniel Penny for the Death of Jordan Neely
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Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. People v. Daniel Penny Verdict
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NY1. Defense Lawyer Says Veteran Acted to Save People by Using Chokehold on Erratic Subway Rider
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ABC7 New York. Defense’s Forensic Pathologist Disputes Medical Examiner’s Chokehold Death Claim
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NBC New York. Pathologist Disputes Daniel Penny Chokehold Caused Jordan Neely Subway Death
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PBS NewsHour. Daniel Penny Acquitted in NYC Subway Chokehold Case Over Jordan Neely’s Death
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ABC7 New York. Daniel Penny Verdict: Questions Jury Asked Before Deciding Not Guilty
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NBC News. Jury in Daniel Penny Trial Tells Judge Can’t Reach Agreement on Manslaughter
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FOX 5 New York. Daniel Penny Acquitted Not Guilty Jordan Neely Reaction
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CBS News. Daniel Penny NYC Subway Chokehold Jordan Neely Trump Army-Navy Football Game
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The Conversation. Daniel Penny’s GiveSendGo Campaign
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The New York Times. Daniel Penny Hired by Andreessen Horowitz
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The Guardian. Jordan Neely Father Sues Daniel Penny Chokehold
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Fox News. Daniel Penny Demands Dismissal of Civil Lawsuit From Jordan Neely Father