The heartbreaking chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway has been ruled a homicide.
The now-viral video shows a former U.S. Marine placing the 30-year-old homeless and mentally-ill Michael Jackson impersonator in a lethal chokehold aboard a Manhattan subway train.
Jordan Neely was on the F train heading toward the Broadway-Lafayette stop in NoHo when he began acting erratically around 2:30 p.m.
He yelled and allegedly threw garbage at commuters, which prompted an argument with the 24-year-old ex-Marine.
The quarrel turned into a brawl as the train entered the station.
During the fight, the former Marine put Jordan in a lethal chokehold.
Jordan fell unconscious on the train while in the chokehold and the conductor called for police.
First responders took Jordan Neely to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
One passenger on the subway told NY Daily News, “He wasn’t conscious, he wasn’t responsive, and the man still had him in the headlock.”
The city Medical Examiner found the cause of Jordan Neely’s death was compression of the neck and ruled the death as a homicide.
It’s unclear if or when charges will be filed against the former Marine who placed Jordan in a chokehold, but citizens and elected officials are expressing their outrage over Jordan’s senseless death.
One Brooklynite told the NYDN, “They murdered a Black man and his only crime was screaming on a train. This should not have happened. If you’re a native New Yorker, you’ve seen people having an outburst on a regular basis. That’s not a reason [to kill them].”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is probing the death.
Jordan’s father, Andre Zachery, recalled his son’s love of Michael Jackson, which began when he was just 4 years old.
He looked just like him He used to perform on the block.
One day, people were loving him. Michael!
Zachery shared that his son was autistic and often sat at home just staring at his fingers while growing up.
But, it was the 2007 murder of his mother that sent Jordan Neely spiraling.
He didn’t care anymore after that.
Once his mother died…
They were very close.
He loved her so much that he just lost it.
After we buried her, he just wasn’t the same anymore.
Despite all of the pain and loss, Jordan still loved performing and impersonating Michael Jackson.
He performed everywhere from the subway to the streets of Times Square.
Jordan later fell on hard times after dropping out of school and living on the streets.
He failed to take his meds and his autism made it difficult for him to find steady work.
Zachary said, “He didn’t like the meds. He didn’t like those meds. He didn’t want to be a zombie. He was a smart boy, he had a smart mind … I started praying for him.”
The last time Andre Zachary saw his son was four years ago, when Jordan walked out of their home never to return.
He did receive a letter from Jordan several months ago when he was locked up.
He was locked up several months ago and he sent me a letter from where he was and he said, ‘Dad, I disobeyed you. And I’m sorry,’” recounted Zachery. “He said he wanted to come home. And that was it. I didn’t hear no more from him until now.”
Read a few social media reactions to the senseless death of Jordan Neely below.
Jordan Neely needed help…not death.
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Source: NY Daily News
