Jordan Neely’s family is demanding justice after the 30-year-old was choked to death by a marine vet in the subway.
The incident took place on Monday, when Neely was riding the NYC train and he was placed in a fatal chokehold by 24-year-old Daniel Penny. He hasn’t been arrested and isn’t facing charges.
“The family’s outraged at what happened, and the family feels like the justice system is failing them at this moment,” their lawyer, Lennon Edwards, told TMZ. “It took too long really for there to be a determination that this was homicide. It was clear from the beginning: if you look at the video, it tells you that. The coroner’s office came back and said death by compression on the neck. That’s clear. You see that chokehold.”
Edwards continued, “They want justice. They want to see Jordan’s killer prosecuted. They want to see him in jail, behind bars.”
Neely’s family also doesn’t agree with how the incident is being viewed. Neely, a Michael Jackson impersonator, seemed to be experiencing a mental health episode. Police say he was acting in a “hostile and erratic manner,” and that witnesses were afraid of Neely. Neely was unarmed during the incident and didn’t attack any passengers. Regardless, Penny approached Neely from behind and placed him in a chokehold for 15 minutes.
A witness on the scene previously told the New York Times that Neely screamed, “‘I don’t have food, I don’t have a drink, I’m fed up,’” before he was attacked. “‘I don’t mind going to jail and getting life in prison. I’m ready to die.’”
Neely was later taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
