A witness to the death of homeless vagrant Jordan Neely has spoken out in support of Neely’s alleged killer Daniel Penny, expressing gratitude to the ex-Marine for stepping forward to restrain the erratic felon.
On Thursday, a 66-year-old woman who was present for Neely’s death at the hands of Penny spoke to The New York Post to express solidarity with the embattled former soldier, who is now facing charges for second-degree manslaughter. The lady requested to remain anonymous, but she was unambiguous in her support for Penny.
“I hope he has a great lawyer, and I’m praying for him,” the woman said. “And I pray that he gets treated fairly, I really do. Because after all of this ensued, I went back and made sure that I said ‘Thank you’ to him.”
The witness also described the details of Neely’s behavior prior to Penny’s intervention, corroborating early reports that Neely spoke of his willingness to go to jail and threatened passengers on the train.
“He said, ‘I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet, I’ll go to jail’ because he would kill people on the train. He said, ‘I would kill a [expletive]. I don’t care. I’ll take a bullet. I’ll go to jail.’”
The woman also made note of Penny’s caution and hesitation during the incident, saying that he did not intervene until it became clear that Neely was a threat to other passengers.
“This gentleman, Mr. Penny, did not stand up,” the lady continued. “Did not engage with the gentleman. He said not a word. It was all Mr. Neely that was … threatening the passengers. If he did not get what he wants.”
The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced on Thursday that it would pursue charges of second-degree manslaughter against the blonde defender, surprising many who expected Bragg to await the decision of a grand jury before pursuing the case. Penny was photographed turning himself into authorities on Friday, walking into Manhattan’s Fifth Precinct NYPD stationhouse and emerging shortly thereafter in handcuffs, wearing the noble visage of the dying Gaul as he was submitted himself to the authority of the law.
The aforementioned woman who witnessed the events leading to Neely’s death lamented the apparent injustice of Penny’s potential prison sentence, implying that the punishment was inappropriate for the ex-Marine’s actions on that fateful day.
“Gonna go to jail for life? What? What penalties involve going to jail for life?” she told reporters (Penny faces a maximum of 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge). “Could you tell me? Yeah, it’s not kicking somebody in the shin, or punching somebody in the face.”
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