The Marine who fatally choked Jordan Neely on an NYC subway this week is 24-year-old Daniel Penny, The Post has confirmed.
Penny — who has not been criminally charged — was captured on camera putting Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, in a chokehold on the F train just before 2:30 p.m. Monday at a Lower Manhattan subway stop.
The Queens man, whose name started to circulate on Twitter overnight, served as an infantry squad leader and an instructor in water survival while in the Marines Corps from 2017 to 2021, according to his online resume. Penny graduated from high school in West Islip, NY.
He was deployed twice, the profile says.
Police officials have said Penny is still on active duty and in good standing with the Marine Corps.
The surf enthusiast last worked in customer service at a Sweetwater Surf shop until May last year.
He briefly enrolled in college following his tours with the Marines, but dropped out and backpacked in Central America, his profile says.
In Monday’s fatal encounter, Neely had been acting erratic on the subway, threatening riders and throwing garbage while asking riders for food.
What we know about NYC subway choking victim Jordan Neely
Who was Neely?
Jordan Neely, 30, a homeless man, was strangled aboard a northbound F train just before 2:30 p.m. May 1, according to police.
He reportedly started acting erratically on the train and harassing other passengers before being restrained and ultimately choked by a straphanger, identified as Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old former Marine from Queens.
Penny, who was seen on video applying the chokehold, was taken into custody and later released. He was eventually charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Why is there fallout over Neely’s death?
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, noting he died due to “compression of neck (chokehold).”
Neely’s aunt told The Post that he became a “complete mess” following the brutal murder of his mother in 2007. She noted he was schizophrenic and suffered from PTSD and depression.
“The whole system just failed him. He fell through the cracks of the system,” Carolyn Neely said.
Who is Penny?
24-year-old former Marine Daniel Penny served as an infantry squad leader and an instructor in water survival while in the Marines Corps from 2017 to 2021, according to his online resume. Penny graduated from high school in West Islip, NY.
He surrendered to authorities 11 days after he placed Neely in a fatal chokehold on an F train.
At one point, he yelled he was “fed up” and “I don’t care if I go to jail, and if they give me life in prison,” according to police and witnesses.
The Marine then stepped in and put Neely in a headlock for minutes before he fell unconscious.
When EMS arrived, they could not revive Neely and he was pronounced dead.
Penny was briefly taken into custody but later released without charges, with police saying they were waiting for the autopsy to come back before considering criminal charges.
The city medical examiner ruled Wednesday that Neely’s death was a homicide by compression of the neck.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said following the release it was conducting a “rigorous” investigation that was being handled by “senior, experienced prosecutors” as to whether to charge Penny in the fatal chokehold.
