An assault victim of the “dangerous” homeless man choked to death by a Marine on a northbound F train this week ripped the city for not forcing her attacker to get the mental health treatment he clearly needed.
Anne Mitcheltree said she was randomly punched in the head in June 2021 by Jordan Neely inside S.K. Deli Market on 2nd Avenue in the East Village. The attack caused swelling and substantial pain but left no permanent damage.
After police arrested Neely, Mitcheltree, 65, assumed her aggressor would face charges and psychiatric lockup.
“They told me we have him, he’s in custody, we’re going to press charges,” Mitcheltree, a creative arts therapist with New York City Health + Hospitals for over 40 years, told The Post.
“I thought the judge would have forced him to take psychiatric meds, but it seems like he bounced out.”
Law enforcement sources said that Neely had 42 prior arrests on his long rap sheet — most recently for punching a 67-year-old woman in the East Village in November 2021, which landed him in jail for over a year.
An arrest warrant for Neely had been issued on Feb. 23, although details of the ongoing case were not immediately available.
Neely was choked to death by Marine Daniel Penny on Monday, May 1. AP“I don’t know why he didn’t end up in Bronx Psychiatric Center,” Mitcheltree said, adding, “This is a common understanding in psychiatry, that agitated people who are aggressive get themselves killed.”
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.
“After assaulting all these women in all these cases, and knowing that he was dangerous, they just let him go, to the point that he was murdered in NoHo,” Mitcheltree said.
Neely, 30, first fell into a depression after his mother was murdered by her partner in 2007, and later battled schizophrenia and PTSD, according to friends and family.
Neely fell into a depression after his mother was murdered by her partner in 2007, according to reports. Provided by Carolyn NeelyAt least a dozen of the homeless man’s encounters with police were linked to his mental health issues, and officers repeatedly dropped him off at the hospital or a shelter, sources said.
Neely’s aggression continued the day before his death, when he allegedly tried to push a straphanger into the subway tracks at the Broadway-Lafayette station in Lower Manhattan.
“This man jumped on me, grabbed my shoulders, and pushed me towards the tracks Sunday night at this very station,” a Reddit user posted Wednesday about the terrifying incident, which they declined to discuss further.
“I was able to run away but he got physical and chased other people standing on the platform before getting on an uptown train.
“This whole thing is so sad.”
Neely had been battling a slew of mental health issues, including schizophrenia and PTSD Provided by Carolyn Neely
One of Jordan Neely’s assault victims blasted the city for not forcing the homeless man to get the mental health treatment he needed. Provided by Carolyn Neely
Neely had numerous encounters with law enforcement, including at least a dozen linked to his mental health issues. Valentina Jaramillo/NY PostThe next day, Neely appeared to be having a mental episode on an F train at the same subway stop just before 2:30 p.m., shouting at passengers that he was hungry and didn’t “care if I go to jail, and if they give me life in prison,” according to witnesses and police.
Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old Marine from West Islip, was recorded on video with his arms wrapped around Neely in a fatal chokehold, which lasted for several minutes.
Two other passengers helped restrain Neely, and Penny was taken into custody by police before being released without charges.
The city medical examiner ruled Neely’s death a homicide, and the district attorney’s office is currently investigating whether to bring criminal charges against Penny for the chokehold.
A grand jury could be convened soon to see if Danny Penny will be indicted. AllTrails Danny Penny
The Manhattan DA is investigating whether to bring criminal charges against Penny. Juan VazquezA Manhattan grand jury could be convened as early as next week to determine whether to indict Penny.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona and Georgia Worrell
