Mayor Eric Adams defended Daniel Penny as a Manhattan jury began deliberating Tuesday on whether to convict him of suffocating a troubled homeless man to death on the subway. The Marine Corps veteran claimed he was doing “what the city was supposed to do.”
Hitzoner speaks to jury in lightning rod case while blaming “failure” of the Big Apple's mental health system for not doing more to help Jordan Neely ahead of fatal 2023 subway crash He said he hoped that members would make the “right decision.” .
“In this case, young people were coming through the revolving door of our system and into our system. Now we're on the subway and someone hurts someone, killed someone. I hear people talking about it,” Adams said Saturday. 710 WOR's “Rob Astorino Show.”
“There are people in that subway who were doing what the city was supposed to do and respond with mental health facilities in place,” he added.
“Passengers were scared. They came on the subway. As a police officer, I know what it's like to struggle or fight with someone. It's essential that we look at the bigger picture of this issue. ,” Adams said.
Adams went on to ask jurors to “hear all the facts” as they consider whether the 26-year-old former Marine was justified in holding Neely, 30, who has a history of mental illness and substance abuse. He said he wanted to. Since the explosion on the crowded F train in May last year.
“Based on all the facts presented, a jury of his peers will make the correct decision. I don't want to prejudge that,” Adams said, noting that Penny was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide. He talked about whether he should be found guilty.
“It could be an incident like the one we saw three innocent people murdered on our streets two weeks ago,” he said, referring to the Nov. 18 stabbing in Manhattan. There are enough,” he added.
“We need to recognize that we are facing a mental health crisis and we are not doing enough to solve it.”
