The family of Jordan Neely on Monday accused the former Marine who choked the 30-year-old to death on a New York City subway of “acting with indifference” and character assassination.
Responding to a press release from attorneys for veteran Daniel Penny, Neely’s family said Penny’s words were not “an apology nor an expression of regret.”
“It is a character assassination and a clear example of why he believed he was entitled to take Jordan’s life,” the family said in a statement through their attorneys, Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards.
“In short, his actions on the train, and now his words, show why he needs to be in prison.”
On May 1, Penny, 24, forced Neely to the floor and held him in a chokehold while they were on the train in downtown Manhattan. Moments before the fatal encounter, Neely, who was known for his Michael Jackson impersonations, had been shouting at fellow passengers that he was hungry, thirsty and suicidal.
Neely’s death was ruled a homicide by the city chief medical examiner’s office, which said he died from compression of the neck.
Though Penny was taken into custody and questioned by police, he was eventually released. He has not been charged.
Video footage of the incident went viral, and demonstrations around New York have many calling for Penny’s arrest.
In a statement last week, Penny’s attorneys highlighted his history as a veteran and said that Penny did not intend to harm Neely.
“When Mr. Neely began aggressively threatening Daniel Penny and the other passengers, Daniel, with the help of others, acted to protect themselves, until help arrived,” the law firm of Raiser and Kenniff, P.C. said Friday.
“Daniel never intended to harm Mr. Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death,” the firm added. “For too long, those suffering from mental illness have been treated with indifference. We hope that out of this awful tragedy will come a new commitment by our elected officials to address the mental health crisis on our streets and subways.”
Neely’s family dismissed the statement Monday.
Instead, they said, Penny took time to highlight how “good” he is and how “bad” Jordan was “in an effort to convince us Jordan’s life was ‘worthless.'”
“The truth is, he knew nothing about Jordan’s history when he intentionally wrapped his arms around Jordan’s neck, and squeezed and kept squeezing,” Neely’s family attorneys said.
The family noted a line in the statement from Penny’s attorneys saying the public has shown “indifference” to people like Neely, adding “that term is more appropriately used to describe” Penny.
“It is clear he is the one who acted with indifference, both at the time he killed Jordan and now in his first public message. He never attempted to help him at all. In short, his actions on the train, and now his words, show why he needs to be in prison,” Mills and Edwards said.
The attorneys also called for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to call them and show the family that “Jordan Matters.”
“You seem to think others are more important than him. You cannot ‘assist’ someone with a chokehold,” they said.