NYC subway victim Jordan Neely was a Michael Jackson impersonator with autism and schizophrenia
Jordan Neely was a street performer who was strangled to death by a former Marine who put him in a chokehold on the New York subway on Monday.
Neely, 30, was a famous Michael Jackson impersonator and was often seen dancing around town in a red leather Thriller jacket and the pop star’s signature loafers.
According to his family, he suffered from autism and schizophrenia and was permanently scarred by the murder of his mother, Christine Neely, in 2007.
He was only 14 at the time and fell victim to homelessness in the following years and tried several times to live with his father, but failed.
According to the New York daily newshe was arrested 42 times in the past ten years.
“The whole system just let him down. He fell through the cracks in the system,” his aunt Carolyn Neely told the New York Post.
Jordan Neely (pictured), 30, was a street performer who was strangled to death by a former Marine who put him in a chokehold on the New York subway earlier this week
Neely, 30, was a famous Michael Jackson impersonator and often seen dancing around town in a red Thriller leather jacket and the pop star’s signature penny loafers
Neely’s aunt spoke about her sister’s death and described its impact on her cousin.
My sister Christie was murdered in ’07 and he’s never been the same since.
“It made a big impression on him. He developed depression and it grew and became more severe. He was schizophrenic, PTSD. Doctors knew his condition and he had to be treated for it,” Carolyn said.
A friend of the family told the paper that Neely “suffered so much because of what happened to his mother. She was his only support. Certainly not his father.’
Jordan Neely’s mother, Christie, was strangled by her boyfriend in 2007. She was described by her father as an “ageless beauty.”
That friend said he tried several times to live with his father, but the pair didn’t get along.
In 2012, Neely was called to testify in the murder trial of the man who killed his mother in Bayonne, New Jersey. reported NJ.com at the time.
According to the testimony, Neely tried to say goodbye to his mother one morning before going to school.
He said his stepfather Shawn Southerland had denied him access to the bedroom by padlocking it.
The next day, Neely said Southerland left the house and never saw him again.
Neely’s father told the Daily News in an interview that his son became a “complete mess” after that.
“After we buried her, he just wasn’t the same,” said his father, Andre Zachery. ‘They were very close. He loved her so much he just lost it.”
He said in a tribute, “Jordan was a good man. He was a good man. He grew up well. He always had a (temper), but he never hurt anyone… He wasn’t bad. He was beautiful.’
Zachery said his son started mimicking Michael Jackson when he was four or five years old. ‘He looked just like him. He performed on the block. One day people loved him,” he said.
He said he hadn’t seen his son in four years and it was difficult for him to find work because he rarely took his autism medication.
According to the Daily News report, Neely was arrested 42 times in the past 10 years and was most recently arrested in November 2021 for punching a 67-year-old woman in the face.
The last contact Zachery had with his son was a letter sent to him while Neely was in prison. It read in part, “Dad, I disobeyed you. And I’m sorry.’
A YouTube channel set up for Neely in 2022 attempted to locate him as he had not performed his act in years
Video posted online of the altercation that killed Neely showed a 24-year-old Marine lying beneath him, holding him in a headlock for several minutes as he tried to escape but failed to break free.
Deputy Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called Neely’s death a “public murder.”
Reverend Al Sharpton compared the Marine’s actions to those of famed subway gunman Bernie Goetz, referring to the shooting of four black men on a train under Manhattan just before Christmas in 1984.
“We cannot return to a place where vigilance is acceptable,” he said. “It was not acceptable then and it cannot be acceptable now.”
However, NYC Mayor Eric Adams urged caution on Wednesday night.
“I don’t think that’s very responsible at a time when we are still investigating the situation. Let’s let the prosecutor conduct his investigation with the law enforcement, to really get involved in that is not the right thing to do,” he said.
‘It’s not right to meddle with that. I’m going to be responsible and let them do their job to determine exactly what happened.”