NEW YORK – Jurors on Monday watched video of Daniel Penny grabbing a man by the neck on a subway train as another passenger pleaded with the Navy veteran to let him go.

The video, recorded by a high school student from outside the train, gave the anonymous jury their first direct view of strangulation in the heart of the involuntary manslaughter trial surrounding the death of Jordan Neely in 2023.

While video of the encounter taken by a freelance journalist was widely viewed in the days that followed, it is unclear whether the student’s video has been made public before.

Prosecutors say Penny, 25, recklessly killed Neely, 30, who was homeless and mentally ill. He had frightened train passengers with angry statements that some passengers considered threatening.

Penny has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers say he was defending himself and his fellow travelers, stepping forward in one of the volatile moments that New York robbers fear but most avoid facing.

Neely, 30, known to some subway riders for imitating Michael Jackson, had mental health and drug problems. His family has said his life fell apart after his mother was murdered when he was a teenager and he testified at the trial that led to her boyfriend’s conviction.

He crossed paths with Penny, an architecture student who had served four years in the Marine Corps, on a subway train on May 1, 2023.

Neely was homeless, broke, hungry, thirsty and so desperate he was ready to go to jail, he yelled at passengers, who later recalled his statements to police.

It made high school student Ivette Rosario so nervous that she thought she would faint, she testified Monday. He had seen outbursts on the subway before, “but not like this,” he said.

“Because of the tone, I got pretty scared and scared of what was said,” said Rosario, 19. He told the jury he looked down, waiting for the train to pull into a station before anything else happened.

Then he heard the sound of someone falling, looked up and saw Neely on the ground, with Penny’s arm around his neck.

The train soon stopped and she got out, but continued to watch from the platform. He would soon make one of the first calls to 911 about what was happening. But first, his shaking hand pressed record on his phone.

She captured video of Penny on the ground, clutching Neely’s head with her left arm, her right hand on top of Neely’s head, and an unseen bystander saying Neely was dying and urging her, “Leave it.” go!”.

Rosario said he did not see Neely specifically address or approach anyone.

But according to the defense, Neely lunged at a woman carrying a stroller and said he would “kill,” and Penny felt she had to act.

Prosecutors do not claim Penny intended to kill, nor do they blame him for initially deciding to try to stop Neely’s threatening behavior. But they say Penny went too far by strangling the man for about six minutes, even after passengers were able to exit the train and after Neely stopped moving for nearly a minute.

Defense attorneys say Penny continued to grab Neely because he tried to get up at times. The defense also challenges forensic doctors’ finding that strangulation killed him.

An attorney for Neely’s family maintains that anything he said does not justify what Penny did.