NAMI-NYC’s Response to the Murder of Jordan Neely

New York, NY, May 4, 2023–In response to the murder of Jordan Neely, NAMI-NYC stated: 

We are shocked and deeply saddened by Jordan Neely’s murder. No one experiencing a mental health crisis deserves to be tackled and placed in a headlock until they die. Jordan struggled with mental health challenges and cycled in and out of New York’s mental health system. The system failed him, and we must do better. Without meaningful investments in a community mental health system and intergovernmental coordination, people with SMI, like Jordan, won’t be able to access the care they need and will continue to fall through the cracks.  

It is unacceptable that Daniel Penny was initially allowed to walk away after murdering Jordan Neely, a Black man living with serious mental illness. We see ourselves in Jordan Neely and we refuse to live in a world where people with SMI, especially Black and brown New Yorkers, are routinely arrested, brutalized, and murdered during a mental health crisis.  

Updated: May 18, 2023