A Manhattan manslaughter trial is underway against Daniel Penny, 26 — a Long Island native and Marine Corps veteran — charged for placing NYC homeless man Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold on the subway in May 2023 after Neely made disturbing threats on board the train.

What we covered

'You're going to kill him,' witness says he warned Daniel Penny during fatal chokehold

By Kyle Schnitzer and Ben Kochman

A Brooklyn man who was riding on the F train at the time of Penny's fatal chokehold has testified that he never felt “threatened” by Neely at any point — and that Penny ignored his pleas to let the man go.

Larry Goodson, 51, told jurors that he noticed Neely defecating and urinating on himself as Penny continued choking him for several minutes.

“I said if he’s defecating or urinating on himself, you’re going to let him go because you’re going to kill him,” Goodson testified.

Goodson, who has ridden city trains for 50 years, also told jurors that Neely was not threatening — which conflicts with Penny's lawyers' claim that Neely threatened straphangers.

 "I was not threatened. I was not fearful," Goodson said. "This individual was not threatening me.”

Witness: Daniel Penny was unresponsive, in a 'trance' during chokehold

By Kyle Schnitzer

Larry Goodson, a rider aboard the subway the day Jordan Neely was killed, testified that Daniel Penny was in a "trance" and not responding when he told him to let go of the alleged chokehold.

“I said if he’s defecating or urinating on himself, you’re going to let him go because you’re going to kill him," Goodson said in dramatic testimony.

He later said Penny "didn't respond" to him or another passenger who came to assist Neely.

"Mr. Penny didn’t respond to myself or the gentlemen who came to assist Mr. Neely… that is the truth of what happened," Goodson said.

He then said that Penny was in a "whole other trance" at the time of the chokehold.

Jordan Neely's dad leaves courtroom as jurors are shown infamous chokehold video

By Kyle Schnitzer

Jordan Neely's dad, Andre Zachary, left the courtroom as jurors were shown the infamous video of Daniel Penny appearing to put Jordan Neely in a chokehold aboard a New York City subway car.

Zachary left the courtroom when Manhattan prosecutors played the video for a second time to the jury.

The graphic 4-minute and 55-second clip, shot by Mexican journalist Juan Alberto Vasquez, was shown for the first time at trial.

Jordan Neely's father, Andre Zachary
Jordan Neely's father, Andre Zachary, left the courtroom as graphic video of his son being held in a chokehold was played twice for the jury. Gregory P. Mango

It appears to show Penny holding Neely in a chokehold.

During the first run of the video, Zachary could be seen inside the courtroom with his head in his hands. At some points, he looked to his left, away from the TV monitor broadcasting the video to the audience.

Zachary left the room as Vasquez was asked to give an analysis of the graphic video he took.

It shows Neely's leg swinging at one point while Penny has his arm gripped around the man's neck while they're both on the floor of a subway car.

Neely's father verbally sighed at one point while viewing the clip.

Never-before-seen footage of Penny chokehold released: 'He's dying — you gotta let go!'

By Ben Kochman and Kyle Schnitzer

New video played at Daniel Penny's trial shows the Marine veteran gripping homeless man Jordan Neely's neck on the floor of a subway car — while bystanders plead with him to "let him go."

The never-before-seen footage, shot by a high school student from just outside the train car, was jurors' first glimpse of the deadly encounter at the heart of the case.

“He’s dying — you gotta let go!” one onlooker can be heard saying on the video. "Let him go," another witness can be heard saying.

The one-minute video was captured by Ivette Rosario, now 19, whose hands can be seen trembling in the footage.

"Call some cops!" Rosario yells out during the video.

Rosario testified Monday that Neely's rant that led Penny to take the mentally ill man down inside the uptown F train as it approached the Broadway-Lafayette station was so frightening that she thought she "was going to pass out.”

Journalist who shot 'critical' video of fatal chokehold now on stand

By Kyle Schnitzer

The day's second witness is Juan Alberto Vasquez, a Mexican American journalist whose video of the fatal encounter is the "most critical piece of evidence" that jurors will see, prosecutors say.

Vasquez's video taken on his cellphone shows Penny choking Neely for nearly six minutes after nearly all of the passengers had fled the once-crowded train, according to the DA's Office.

Jurors are expected to see the video at some point on Monday.

Witness yells, 'He’s dying — you gotta let go!' as Penny holds Neely in chokehold: video evidence

By Kyle Schnitzer and Ben Kochman

A witness to Daniel Penny's fatal chokehold of Jordan Neely yelled out, "He's dying — you gotta let go!" as Penny held Neely down, video played for jurors shows.

The video, shot by then-17-year-old high school student Ivette Rosario, shows Penny on the floor with Neely, with Penny's arms wrapped around Neely's neck.

witness Ivette Rosario
Ivette Rosario, a 17-year-old high school student when she took video of the incident on the subway, testifies in court Monday. Jane Rosenberg

It's unclear from the video whether Penny heard the comment. Rosario testified that she didn't hear it at the time.

“Yeah, you can hear it in the video, but in the moment, I couldn’t hear it in the moment,” she told jurors.

Witness to Neely's subway rant was so nervous, she thought she'd 'pass out'

By Kyle Schnitzer and Ben Kochman

Ivette Rosario, who was 17 at the time of the fatal encounter, testified that Jordan Neely's rant after bursting through the doors of the uptown F train at Second Avenue was so frightening that she thought she "was going to pass out."

Neely said he was homeless, hungry and "didn't care about going back to jail," Rosario told jurors.

"I was very nervous, and I thought I was going to pass out because I was so nervous," she said.

Ivette Rosario
Ivette Rosario, who was 17 at the time of the fatal encounter, testified that Jordan Neely's rant after bursting through the doors of the uptown F train at Second Avenue was so frightening that she thought she "was going to pass out." Jane Rosenberg

“I got scared by the tone by the way he saying it," Rosario added. "He was saying it in an angry tone. ... I have usually seen escalations but not like that."

Neely did not approach or touch anyone, and did not appear to be carrying a weapon, she said.

Bystander who shot first video of Penny's fatal chokehold takes stand

By Kyle Schnitzer

Monday's first witness is Ivette Rosario, a bystander who shot the first video of Daniel Penny holding Jordan Neely in a chokehold on her cellphone from the Broadway-Lafayette platform after leaving the subway car.

Ivette Rosario, wearing a flannel and a blue shirt, holds her phone while leaving the courthouse.
Ivette Rosario, a bystander who shot the first video of Daniel Penny holding Jordan Neely in a chokehold on her cellphone, was Monday's first witness. Gregory P. Mango
Ivette Rosario in a blue flannel jacket leaving Manhattan Criminal Court after testimony in the Daniel Penny trial
Rosario shot the video from the Broadway-Lafayette platform after leaving the subway car. Gregory P. Mango

Rosario, 19, said she had been returning home from high school when she witnessed the fatal confrontation.

Jurors are expected to see her video shortly.

Manslaughter trial resumes as detectives who interrogated Penny still yet to testify

By Ben Kochman

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office is set to call its sixth witness to the stand when the trial resumes shortly after 10 a.m.

Daniel Penny in a suit and tie arriving with his legal team at Manhattan Criminal Court
Daniel Penny arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court for day two of trial. Gregory P. Mango
Daniel Penny, accused of a homicide, arriving at Manhattan Criminal Court, surrounded by a group of men in suits.
The trial is set to resume shortly after 10 a.m. Gregory P. Mango

Key witnesses still yet to testify include the detectives who interrogated Penny on the night of Neely's death, and personnel from the city Medical Examiner's Office — which ruled the homeless man's death a homicide caused by compression of the neck.

Shocking footage played at Penny trial shows officers saying Neely had a pulse

By Anna Young

Shocking footage played in court showed the moment first responders said Jordan Neely still had a pulse after former Marine Daniel Penny put the troubled homeless man in a chokehold on a Manhattan subway last year.

The chaotic bodycam footage, which captured two police officers confirming that an unconscious Neely still had a pulse when they arrived at Fulton Station on May 1, 2023, was shown to jurors in Penny’s manslaughter trial in Manhattan Supreme Court.

“I feel a pulse,” one officer said, as a second officer confirmed that Neely “has a pulse” before he later died.

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