Daniel Penny is slated to appear in a Manhattan court Wednesday morning to be arraigned on manslaughter charges for the chokehold death of homeless man Jordan Neely on a subway train last month.
The 24-year-old former Marine is expected to be asked to enter a plea on an indictment charging him with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the caught-on-camera confrontation with Neely, 30, on an F train on May 1.
He faces up to 19 years behind bars if convicted on both counts.
The arraignment is set for 10 a.m. before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley. Penny’s team is expected to address the media after the hearing.
The former infantry squad leader has been free on $100,000 bail after surrendering to cops on May 12, almost two weeks after the deadly encounter with Neely — who had a long history of mental health illness and had been threatening subway riders that day, according to Penny and witnesses on the train.
Penny has said he didn’t mean to kill Neely but that he felt obliged to get involved because, if Neely “had carried out his threats, he would have killed somebody.”
Penny could be seen on a viral bystander video coming up behind Neely, putting him in a chokehold and dropping to the ground while two other men tried to help subdue him. Neely can be seen eventually going limp while Penny and the other riders look on.
Witnesses have said that Neely started becoming disruptive, making threats and throwing trash prompting passengers to move away from him and prompting Penny to get involved.
Penny was initially questioned and released by the police without any charges.
Neely’s death — ruled a homicide by the city medical examiner — sparked protests in the city by advocates who demanded Penny’s arrest and justice for Neely.
The family of Neely — a former street performer who impersonated Michael Jackson — has claimed the city failed to help Neely with his mental health issues and has called for Penny to be charged with murder.
Penny’s lawyer, Steven Raiser, has previously said he plans to clear his client’s name and that “the standard of proof in a grand jury is very low and there has been no finding of wrongdoing.”
A legal defense fund was set up for Penny and had raised nearly $3 million as of Tuesday evening — with contributions from notable figures including a $5,000 donation made by musician Kid Rock.
Any money that isn’t used to pay for his legal defense will be donated to a mental health advocacy program in New York City, according to the fund’s GiveSendGo campaign page.