The city straphanger who jumped in to help Daniel Penny restrain Jordan Neely told jurors Tuesday that the troubled homeless man had died after being strangled by the Marine Corps veteran. He said it looked like he was trying to “run away.”
Eric Gonzalez, 39, of the Bronx, testified in Penny's Manhattan manslaughter trial that Penny, 26, was riding the Uptown F subway to a construction site on May 1, 2023. He testified that he saw Neely, 30, being pinned down.
“Everyone panicked and said, ‘Call the police!’ Call the police! … I thought one of them was trying to restrain the other until the police came,” Gonzalez said. He talked about Penny and Neely wrestling on the floor.
“I jumped in to help.
Gonzalez said he told Penny, “'I'm going to grab his hand, so please let go,'” and hopes the veteran will remove his arm from Neely's neck. he added.
“There were times when I said, 'You can let him go, because I'm holding on to him,'” Gonzalez told jurors.
Gonzalez said Neely tapped someone nearby to indicate he wanted Penny to go.
“He wanted to be released,” Gonzalez said of Neely, adding, “He looked like he was trying to run away.”
Despite Gonzalez's efforts to get Penny to release Neely, the veteran continued to hold him back, Gonzalez said.
Eventually, Neely “went limp,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said she was initially “scared” after the incident when she learned she was a suspect in Neely's death.
He testified that he still fears involvement in the incident.
“All these protests are going on. I'm scared for myself and my family,” the witness told jurors.
Gonzalez admitted that he lied when he was first questioned by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office as a suspect in the death of a homeless man.
Fearing that he would be “identified” as the murderer, Gonzalez joked with prosecutors' investigators, falsely claiming he arrived at the scene earlier than he actually did, and telling authorities that Neely was He said he told Penny that he had hit her, which prompted Penny to take action.
Gonzalez eventually reached a non-prosecution agreement with prosecutors, but said he lied to “justify his actions.”
Gonzalez told jurors that Penny had already grabbed Neely by the time he arrived at the scene.
According to trial testimony, Neely used threatening abuse, but no one testified that Penny touched anyone before knocking him down.
Penny has been charged with manslaughter and manslaughter and could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.
He has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers argue he should not face criminal charges because he was only acting to protect frightened straphangers from a threatening Neely. There is.
