NEW YORK – The Marine Corps veteran on trial for the suffocation death of subway Jordan Neely called an expert forensic pathologist to the stand Thursday, who reached a dramatically different conclusion than the New York City Medical Examiner's Office. .
“Strangulation was not the cause of death,” Dr. Satish Chundru testified.
Daniel Penny, 26, could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter, the most serious charge, in the death of 30-year-old Ms Neely.
Daniel Penny trial: Marine veteran may testify in support of affirmative defense claims, New York defense attorney says
Dr. Tundor leaves during a recess in the New York City manslaughter trial of Daniel Penny on Thursday, November 21, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
In May 2023, Neely, a homeless man with schizophrenia and drug addiction, barged into a subway car while on his way to the gym after classes at a New York university, shouting death threats.
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.
Tundor said the cause of death was determined to be “the combined effects of sickle cell crisis, schizophrenia, struggle and inhibition, and synthetic marijuana.”
People with schizophrenia and high K2 levels who get into a fight can die without using a chokehold at all, he said. Similarly, he said Neely would not have died if she had no medical problems and the only cause was strangulation.
Daniel Penny arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 19, 2024. 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. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
“In your opinion, did Mr. Penny suffocate Mr. Neely in 2023?” asked defense attorney Steven Reiser.
“No,” Dr. Tundor replied before the defense was finished with its cross-examination.
The court adjourned for lunch, and the trial was scheduled to resume after cross-examination by the prosecution.
Dr. Cynthia Harris, who performed the city's autopsy, watched from the bleachers as defense experts took to the stands. She testified at the trial three days ago.
Dr. Cynthia Harris attends the trial of Daniel Penny on Friday, November 15, 2024, at the Manhattan Criminal Court Building in New York City. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Daniel Penny. Jordan Neely rides the New York City subway. (Adam Gray, Fox News Digital)
Daniel Penny trial: Shrink says subway madman heard Tupac and the devil before suffocating to death
Harris said it was determined that what killed Neely was strangulation, not synthetic drugs in her system, her sickle cell genetic disorder or cardiac arrest.
“This is a very complex case,” Tundor testified. “Schizophrenia, sickle cell trait, and suffocation are involved.”
In addition, Neely listed K2, a type of synthetic marijuana that experts testified was close to cocaine, in his toxicology report.
Psychiatric records remain in Marine veterinarian's strangulation trial as Bragg's office fights to quash Jordan Neely's drug abuse
Jordan Neely is pictured outside the Regal Cinemas on 8th Avenue and 42nd Street in Times Square, New York City 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)
Chundru said there are two stages to suffocation. In the first case, the individual loses consciousness. In the second, sustained pressure leads to death.
“Another important thing is that if you lose consciousness, you will definitely die from strangulation,” he says.
Dr. Satish Chundru arrived at a Manhattan courthouse Thursday to testify in the trial of Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran charged with manslaughter in the strangulation death of Jordan Neely. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But knocking someone unconscious doesn't necessarily mean they'll die, he says. When they are released, they usually wake up, he said.
“In a sickle cell crisis, death is a lack of oxygen, so it’s the same thing.” [in] “I died of suffocation,” he said.
This is breaking news. Stay tuned to Fox News for the latest information.
