New York: A man is expected to turn himself in to authorities on Friday on a manslaughter charge that carries a potential 15-year prison sentence after continuing to put a chokehold around the neck of an agitated fellow tube rider in New York City.
Jordan Neely, 30, died on May 1 and Daniel Penny, 24, a US Marine veteran, was charged with murder on Thursday, according to Manhattan prosecutors.
Neely's death, which was caught on camera by a freelance journalist, has sparked controversy over a number of topics, including crime and vigilantism as well as how those with mental illnesses are treated by the city and the transit system.
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After the prosecutors made their announcement, a request for comment from Penny's lawyers went unanswered. Prior to now, they have claimed Penny acted in self-defense.
An observer claimed that Neely, a Black man, had been yelling and pleading for money inside the train but had avoided physical altercation.
Police questioned Penny, a white woman, after the incident but she was later let off the hook.
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Neely's friends claimed that the former tube performer had recently struggled with homelessness and mental illness. He had been detained numerous times, including in 2021 when he attacked a 67-year-old woman who was leaving a tube station.
In order to be found guilty of second-degree manslaughter in New York, the jury must determine that the defendant engaged in reckless behaviour that put others at an unreasonable risk of dying and that they then chose to ignore that risk.
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The law also stipulates that the behaviour must be a blatant departure from what a reasonable person would do in the same circumstance.