Penny acquitted in NYC subway choking death

Daniel Penny outside New York City courtroom in choking death case

Penny (pictured above) put Neely, a homeless subway entertainer, in a chokehold

(Image credit: Alex Kent / Getty Images)

published 10 December 2024

What happened

A New York City jury Monday found Daniel Penny, a former Marine and architecture student, not guilty of negligent homicide in the 2023 choking death of Jordan Neely. Penny, 26, had put 30-year-old Neely, a Black homeless subway entertainer with a history of mental illness, in a chokehold after he acted erratically in a subway car.

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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.