Attorneys representing the family of fatal chokehold victim Jordan Neely blasted Manhattan prosecutors for charging former Marine Daniel Penny with manslaughter, arguing that his actions were intentional and called for a murder charge.

Donte Mills and Lennon Edwards held a press conference in front of their law office at 225 West 34th St. in Midtown Manhattan just hours after Penny surrendered to the police.

The lawyers were accompanied by Neely’s father, Andre Zachary, and his aunt Mildred Mahazu, who did not speak during the event.

Both Mills and Edwards welcomed Penny’s arrest but stressed that it was not enough.

“We knew that justice would not be swift. We realized that justice was going to be a journey,” said Edwards. “Today we are not going to stop until we have full justice. We are going to pause to recognize that we have taken the first step, a step in the right direction.”

Penny, 24, was arraigned on a charge of second-degree manslaughter Friday afternoon and released from custody after posting $100,000 bail, 11 days after he placed Neely in a chokehold during a scuffle on an F train, resulting in his death.

Edwards said in his conversations with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office he pushed for a second-degree murder charge punishable by up to a life in prison for Penny, arguing that the decorated Marine veteran intentionally cut off Neely’s air supply for 15 minutes.

“The consequences of manslaughter is five to 15 years. Ask yourself, is that going to be enough?” Edwards wondered aloud.

Mills said that as a Marine who had undergone extensive physical training, Penny had options on how to deal with the situation on the subway train.  

“When you’re trained in combat, it gives you options, but Daniel Penny chose to use a technique that is designed to cut off air, and he chose to continue to hold that chokehold until there was no life left in Jordan Neely,” the attorney said.

“We believe that the conviction should be for murder because that’s intentional,” Mills added.

He said that as Penny was choking Neely, people around them were calling on the ex-Marine to let the homeless man go and warning him that he could kill him. Mills also revealed that at one point, the victim lost control of his bowels, which he said “is a sign he’s losing his life.”

“He could have chosen to let him go, but he didn’t,” the lawyer said.

Based on these facts, Mills said Penny should have faced a more serious charge.

“We disagree with the manslaughter charge. We think it should be murder, because he knew what would happen,” he said. “He knew [Neely] would die.”

The lawyers said they have spoken to eyewitnesses on the train, who recounted how Neely entered the carriage, stood in the middle and declared that he was hungry and that he was “not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“He took his jacket off and threw it to the ground,” Mills said. “Nobody helped him in that moment. He had on a t-shirt that showed clearly that he did not have a weapon.”

That is when Penny came up from behind Neely and applied a chokehold for 15 minutes, according to the family’s lawyers.

Mills laid some of the blame on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, arguing that the agency in charge of operating the subway system must have staff in place “so we’re not afraid.”

Penny turned himself in after the Manhattan DA’s office announced that it would pursue criminal charges against him in connection with Neely’s death.

Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, told reporters outside the 5th Precinct in Lower Manhattan that his client surrendered voluntarily and with “dignity and integrity that is characteristic of his history of service.”

Rev. Al Sharpton, who was asked by Neely’s family to deliver the eulogy at the victim’s funeral next week, welcomed the news of Penny’s arrest.

“Charges against this young man who thought he was above the law is just step one in justice for Jordan Neely,” the veteran civil rights leader said in a statement. “The video of him grabbing Jordan and strangling him to death is disturbing and any jury should see it as such.”

“The justice system needs to send a clear, loud message that vigilantism has never been acceptable,” Sharpton added. “Being homeless or Black or having a mental health episode should not be a death sentence.”

Neely, 30, a homeless former street performer with a long history of mental illness, was riding a northbound F train on the afternoon of May 1 when he started acting erratically and harassing other passengers, according to police and witnesses.

Harrowing video showed Penny, a former Marine from Queens, stepping in to restrain Neely, and ultimately applying a chokehold to him.

The 30-year-old man lost consciousness and later died at the hospital.

The medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide caused by neck compression.  

Penny was initially released from custody after being interviewed by detectives.

“I spoke to the DA and he admitted in his 25 years he could not think of any scenario where there was a victim and a killer, a confession and a video, and the person was questioned and sent home,” Edward said Friday. “Why did they make this one the test for that?”

Penny’s lawyers argued that the former serviceman intervened to protect himself and others, and that he never meant to harm Neely. His online legal defense fund has so far drawn close to $400,000.

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?

Marine veteran 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.

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If convicted of manslaughter, the 24-year-old could be looking at up to 15 years in prison.

Neely struggled with mental health issues and had racked up more than 40 arrests over the years, according to sources.

During Friday’s press conference, Mills noted that during the incident Penny knew nothing about Neely’s rap sheet.

“I want to remind everyone that Daniel Penny did not know Jordan Neely,” he said. “That means he did not know how many times he was arrested or if had ever been arrested at all.

The attorneys representing Neely’s family spoke at length about his struggles, saying that he had relatives who loved him, including his aunt who would welcome him into her home and offer him food and a place to take a shower.

But they said that Neely grappled with the loss of his mother and did not always want to appeal to his family members for help.

“Because someone has mental illness, or has a history of arrests, does not make them dispensable,” Edwards said. “It does not mean that their life has no value.”

Roger Abrams told The Post that he would sometimes see Neely perform a Michael Jackson-inspired dance routine in the subway. He said the last time he ran into the homeless man was a week before his death.

“Jordan was on the train, he was hungry asking for something to eat,” Abrams recalled. “I asked him why he stopped performing, and he said that he wasn’t feeling well. I gave him $5 and he walked off the train.”

Abrams said a week later, he was shocked to learn of Neely’s death, saying he was “a nice guy.”