Moments before New York Marine veteran Daniel Penny placed the erratic Jordan Neely in a chokehold that proved fatal, the emotionally disturbed homeless man raised his fists in the middle of a subway car while shouting at passengers, a witness testified Thursday.
Moriela Sanchez, an 18-year-old from Harlem, said she was taking the train home from school when chaos broke out.
Neely, 30, threw his jacket down and squared up, she testified on day 11 of what is expected to be a six-week trial in New York City.
“If no one gives him water or food, he’s gonna start putting hands on people,” she said. “He was going to start attacking.”
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She added that he was shouting it at everyone on the train car, not any specific rider. Despite the aggression, he did not touch anyone, she added.
“After that, Penny started putting his hands around his neck – and after that he dropped him down so he was closed off from attacking people,” Sanchez testified. “Penny dropped down on his back, and Jordan was on top of him.”
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She said that she believed that Penny was doing it to stop Neely from attacking people.
She got off at the next stop and called 911. She said Penny still had Neely in a chokehold at that time. She noted that a second man, whom she described as a Black male wearing a hat, helped Penny hold Neely down during the encounter.
Under cross-examination, she said “yes” when asked if she felt a sense of relief after Penny placed Neely in a headlock, but she contradicted her own grand jury testimony when she said it looked like Penny was squeezing Neely’s neck. She said it did on Thursday. She said the opposite during the grand jury proceedings.
Her previous grand jury testimony was read in court. She was asked, “Did it look like the white man was squeezing the black man’s neck?”
“No, he was holding him down so he wouldn’t attack nobody,” she said.
This was the first time in my life that I took a moment because I was scared that I was going to die in that moment.
The next witness was Kaydren Schrunk, a Nike senior brand manager who lives in Brooklyn and was on her way to meet a friend for coffee when Neely died.
She testified that Neely was shouting in the middle of the train, making threatening gestures. He smelled like “soiled sweatpants” and she feared he might have a gun or a knife, although she didn’t see one.
“It was a scent that took over the subway – it was like physically soiled sweatpants,” she said. “Mr. Neely may not have been showering appropriately – it was a very strong odor and his sweatpants were definitely soiled.”
She could not remember exactly what he was saying, but testified that he was making life-threatening statements.
“This was the first time in my life that I took a moment because I was scared that I was going to die in that moment,” she said.
Penny intervened with a takedown “at the highest level of the outburst,” she said, testifying that his arm was across Neely’s chest. Two other men helped him hold Neely down, she said.
Next to testify was Johnny Grima, a 40-year-old Bronx resident who is unemployed but spends time working with the homeless. He served 13 months behind bars for bashing someone over the head with a baseball bat – but he claimed on the witness stand he didn’t do it.
Grima said he didn’t see the start of the altercation but arrived after the train’s stopped and watched Penny let go of Neely, who was limp at the time.
Grima testified that he said outloud that they shouldn’t leave Neely on his back while unconscious. He should be on his side so he wouldn’t choke.
Grima, who poured water on Neely’s head, testified that Penny was “flinging Neely’s limbs around carelessly” as he repositioner him on the subway car floor.
After jurors left for lunch, Penny’s defense team took issue with how objections were handled during Grima’ testimony. Judge Maxwell Wiley said he believes that Grima’s “bias” was clear to the jury but that he still had relevant testimony to give.
The trial resumed after lunch with testimony from the prosecution’s 14 witness, an NYPD 911 technician named Paula Williams. She testified about how the NYPD archives and organizes 911 calls, and described the first four calls that came in on the day of Neely’s death.
Then the court heard the first recording aloud, although it was partly muffled.
“Someone started acting crazy on the train talking about hes ready to go to jail hes gonna hurt someone so someone took him down with a chokehold,” the caller said.
“Is there a weapon?” the dispatcher replied.
“Ma’am no, but this guys got him in a restraint,” the caller said.
Witness 15 was NYPD Officer Isatu Cesay, who responded to the scene and took the stand in uniform.
She said that by the time she arrived, Neely was unconscious and did not appear to be breathing. He did not have a pulse when she checked sometime later.
She said she asked Penny, “Did you see what happened?”
“Yeah,” he replied, according to her testimony. “The guy came on the train throwing s— and saying he was ready to die and go to jail for life. I put him in a chokehold and took him to the ground…I had him pretty good.”
Prosecutors then played her bodycam in court which showed a similar conversation.
Under cross-examination, she testified that other officers found a pulse before she checked herself and there wasn’t one.
Manhattan prosecutors say that Penny went too far and negligently caused Neely’s death. The defense argues that his actions were justified defense.
Penny, who is a 25-year-old Marine Corps veteran and college student majoring in architecture, could face up to 19 years in prison if convicted.
Neely had a history of mental illness and criminality, including a prior charge for assaulting a 67-year-old New York City woman in 2021.
This is a developing story. Stick with Fox News Digital for updates.
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