Jordan Neely.Photo: Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty

Jordan Neely is pictured before going to see the Michael Jackson movie, “This is It,” outside the Regal Cinemas on Eighth Avenuereetand 42nd St. in Times Square, New York, in 2009.

According to the Journal, Christie Neely, who was a telemarketer, was choked to death. Southerland, a golf caddie, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for her killing in 2012, theJournalreported.

“It’s been rough for him and all of us,” Neely’s aunt Carolyn said on aGoFundMepage to raise funds for the Michael Jackson impersonator’s funeral and burial.

Jordan Neely’s friend Moses Harper toldCNNthat the loss of his mother “impacted him.”

Paul Martinka via AP

New York police officers respond to the scene where a fight was reported on a subway train, Monday, May 1, 2023, in New York. A man suffering an apparent mental health episode aboard a New York City subway died on Monday after being placed in a headlock by a fellow rider, according to police officials and video of the encounter. Jordan Neely, 30, was shouting and pacing aboard an F train in Manhattan witnesses and police said, when he was taken to the floor by another passenger.

“It traumatized him,” according to Moses, CNN reported. “He was not expecting that, the brutal way she was taken. That had a big impact on him. The brutality behind that, that traumatized him. This kid has cried in front of me. That hurt him in his heart.”

On Monday afternoon, Neely, who had a history of mental illness, was riding a northbound F train in Manhattan when he began harassing passengers, authoritiestold multiple news outlets, including ABC 7.

“He starts to make a speech,” Juan Alberto Vazquez, who filmed the encounter,told theNew York Post. “He started screaming in an aggressive manner. He said he had no food, he had no drink, that he was tired and doesn’t care if he goes to jail. He started screaming all these things, took off his jacket, a black jacket that he had, and threw it on the ground.”

Jake Offenhartz/AP Photo

Protesters march through the Broadway-Lafayette subway station to protest the death of Jordan Neely, Wednesday afternoon, May 3, 2023 in New York. Four people were arrested, police said. Neely, a man who was suffering an apparent mental health episode aboard a New York City subway, died this week after being placed in a headlock by a fellow rider on Monday, May 1, according to police officials and video of the encounter.

A 24-year-old former Marine put him in a chokehold. Neely, 30, was transported to Lenox Hill Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Since his death, protesters have taken to the streets demanding justice as New York City leaders look for answers as to how the subway incident culminated in Neely’s death.

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Mayor Eric Adams toldNew York Timesthat the incident was “tragic,” and added that “there’s a lot we don’t know about what happened here.”

“However, we do know that there were serious mental health issues in play here, which is why our administration has made record investments in providing care to those who need it and getting people off the streets and the subways, and out of dangerous situations.”

On Wednesday, the city’s medical examiner said Neely died from compression of the neck,ABC7reported.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said Thursday, “as part of our rigorous ongoing examination, we will review the Medical Examiner’s report, assess all available video and photo footage, identify and interview as many witnesses as possible and obtain additional medical records.”

No charges have been filed at this time.

source: people.com