Daniel Penny Raises Over $2.9 Million In Donations For Legal Defense For Subway Choking Death Case

The man who is being charged with the subway choking that caused homeless man Jordan Neely’s death is publicly raising money for his legal defense. 

Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran, has already brought in over $2.9 million to fund his defense for the charges of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter he is facing. 

Penny is due to appear in court on October 25 and has already pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. 

Andrew Stengel, a New York City defense lawyer, stated that the money that Penny does not use for his legal case, will go toward “a mental health advocacy program in New York City,” which is specified on his fundraising page. 

Neely was a homeless man who was struggling with his mental health. He entered the subway at the 2nd Avenue station and while on the train he made multiple threats to other passengers. One of the people on board was Penny, who was disturbed by Neely’s words. He decided to put Neely in a chokehold in an attempt to restrain him for several minutes, which ultimately led to his death.

Penny is currently out on a $100,000 bail. 

Neely’s family has also been raising money to pay for his burial and funeral expenses – they raised $150,099 before they closed their GoFundMe page. 

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Penny is not using GoFundMe like the Neely family did, as the website does not allow people to raise money for the legal defense of any kind of violent crime. They have taken down pages in the past, including one for Wisconsin MLB protest shooter Kyle Rittenhouse.