US Marine Corps Soldier Turned Himself in for Manslaughter of Homeless Man in New York City

A US Marine Corps soldier turned himself in to New York police on Friday and is expected to be charged with ‘manslaughter’ in the strangulation death of a known homeless man in the city, a news item filmed on May 1 in the metro and which shocked.

Daniel Penny, 24, dressed in a gray suit over a white shirt, walked with his lawyers into the Chinatown neighborhood police station in lower Manhattan, an AFP photographer noted.

The young man, who is no longer an active soldier, has “his head held high” and assumes “with the integrity and honor that characterizes him”, his adviser Thomas Kenniff told the press.

Mr. Penny should be brought in the afternoon before a New York judge.

Thursday evening, the New York State Prosecutor’s Office for Manhattan Jurisdiction announced the soldier’s “arrest” this Friday and his “indictment in Manhattan Criminal Court” for “manslaughter”.

Mr. Penny is suspected of having caused the May 1 death by “compression” in the neck of Jordan Neely, 30, according to the city forensics.

Mr. Neely, an African American who lived on the streets of Manhattan, had been renowned for a decade for his likeness and performances emulating that of music and dance legend Michael Jackson (1958-2009).

It is a video of the drama, broadcast by all the press, which had triggered a strong emotion in New York.

For five minutes, it shows the victim on the ground in a subway car, Mr. Penny lying behind to shackle him and squeeze his upper body.

Passengers, standing above the two men, seem disconcerted, others vaguely try to block the arms of Mr. Neely who is struggling.

A witness told AFP that Mr. Neely had burst into the car, shouting at passengers and asking them for something to eat or drink.

Mr. Neely, whose family spoke in the press, is a homeless man who had been arrested dozens of times, including for noise on the public highway. He suffered, like many homeless people, from psychiatric disorders, in a megalopolis of 8.5 million inhabitants with abysmal socio-economic inequalities.

The left has stepped up to the plate on this case, the Democratic parliamentarian for New York in the House of Representatives, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, denouncing a “murder”, and demonstrations have taken place in Manhattan and Brooklyn.