NEW YORK – Dr. Satish Chandru, the Texas forensic pathologist representing Daniel Penney in the subway strangulation death trial of Jordan Neely, returned to the stand Friday for a second day of testimony. .
Penny, a 26-year-old Marine Corps veteran and architecture student, picked up Neely, 30, during a schizophrenic and drug-induced rampage on the subway. Witnesses said the attack included death threats and made people fear for their lives. . Neely still had a pulse when Penny let go, but later died.
Contrary to the official autopsy report conducted by Dr. Cynthia Harris of the New York City Medical Examiner's Office, Dr. Tundor testified that he did not believe that strangulation caused Neely's death.
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Dr. Satish Chundru leaves the courtroom during a recess in the New York City manslaughter trial of Daniel Penny in Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday, November 21, 2024 in New York City, New York. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner and leading forensic pathologist, disagreed with Dr. Tundor's testimony.
“Dr. Tundor's testimony may have been very interesting, but it was wrong,” he told Fox News Digital. “He explained what can happen with sickle cell disease, not what happens with sickle cell trait, which Neely had. Eight percent of black people in this country have sickle cell trait. The characteristic of sickle cell is that it is a benign condition that causes few symptoms, let alone death. ”
Daniel Penny walks down the hallway of Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2024. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
During the autopsy, Dr. Harris found a significant “sickle” in Neely's organs, she testified, and attorneys for both sides asked for an explanation. She said the condition did not contribute to Neely's death, and that it was simply asphyxiation caused by strangulation.
“Sickle red blood cells develop a sickle shape after death, when the body loses its oxygen supply, and this can be seen at autopsy, just like Neely and other sickle people who die from some form of the disease,” Baden said. “This is a product of postmortem, like rigor mortis. Additionally, death from sickle disease takes several days after sickling. You can't die in seconds like Neely did.”
Jordan Neely is pictured outside the Regal Cinemas on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street in New York's Times Square in 2009 before going to see the Michael Jackson movie “This Is It.” (Andrew Sabrich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
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But even if strangulation caused Neely's death, he said, it's not up to the coroner to determine whether it was criminal.
“Individual circumstances are important as to whether death is likely.” [or] It should have been avoided and it is entirely up to prosecutors to decide whether to prosecute the death.”
Dr. Cynthia Harris attends the trial of Daniel Penny at the Manhattan Criminal Court Building on Friday, November 15, 2024 in New York City. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan. Neely on the New York City subway. (Adam Gray, Fox News Digital)
Tundor, a former Miami-area medical examiner who now practices in Texas and performs autopsies in six counties, does not believe air asphyxiation was the cause of Neely's unconsciousness. Therefore, he said, it was not the cause of Neely's death.
Rather, he blamed it on “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, schizophrenia, struggle and restraint, and synthetic marijuana.”
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If Penny is convicted of the highest charge of manslaughter, he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. He is also charged with manslaughter.
It was not immediately clear whether he would take the stand in his own defense, but some experts suggested it was likely because this was a case of self-defense.
