Nearly three minutes of footage shows Penny, 24, on the floor of a subway vehicle as Neely, 30, holds her in a chokehold. According to reports from passengers, Neely displayed unusual behaviour on the train, yelling about his hunger and exhaustion but fortunately did not harm anybody.
The medical examiner’s office in New York City determined that Neely’s death was a murder. CBS New York claimed that after questioning Penny, police let her go without filing any charges.
Penny’s lawyers claimed in the days after Neely’s death that their client had been “aggressively threatened” by Neely and that Penny and the other passengers had “acted to defend themselves.”
Thomas Kenniff and Steven Raiser declared in a statement on May 5 that “Daniel never meant to injure Mr. Neely and could not have predicted his sad death.”
Neely’s family attorneys advocated for a jail sentence for Penny.
Lennon Edwards and Donte Mills declared in a statement on May 8 that “he never sought to assist him at all.” There were demonstrations for days demanding justice for Neely because of the case.
