Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Dafna Yoran, who on Tuesday urged jurors at Daniel Penny’s subway chokehold trial to convict him of manslaughter, once demanded a reduction in the sentence for a Manhattan robber who murdered an 87-year-old for more than $300 in 2019 under the concept of “restorative justice.”
Matthew Lee, 57, stalked the victim, a former professor at Lehman College Dr. Young Kun Kimfrom behind at a Citibank ATM on Broadway on May 13, 2018, video shows. The fatal blow, a blow to the head from behind, appears to have occurred off camera.
Kim was hospitalized and later died from his injuries. Police eventually identified Lee as the suspect and arrested him within a week.
DANIEL PENNY-Jurors Begin Deliberations in JORDAN NEELY SUBWAY CHOKEHOLD TRIAL
Prosecutor Dafna Yoran is seen at the Manhattan Supreme Criminal Court building in New York City on December 2, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)
Kim survived the Japanese occupation of Korea and the Korean War New York Post reported in 2019. His son forgave the killer during the sentencing in a Manhattan courthouse.
Under a 2020 policy introduced by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., Yoran saw “an opportunity for a transformative outcome,” according to Gothamista news site from New York City. It was the first use of the program in a murder case.
“It’s just a continuation of the soft-on-crime policies that have permeated our major cities,” said Louis Gelormino, a Staten Island attorney who has said the case against Penny should never have happened. submitted.
Kim’s son and daughter-in-law, Jinsoo and Julia Kim, agreed to meet with Lee, his sister and a social worker for 90 minutes, according to contemporary reports. The couple could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
TRAIN HERO ALEK SKARLATOS ON DANIEL PENNY TRIAL: ‘THIS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU’
Daniel Penny arrives at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York City on December 3, 2024. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“I can’t choose how much I hurt, but I can choose how much I hate, and I choose not to hate you anymore,” Jinsoo Kim told Lee in his victim impact statement, preserved online in the Post report . “I forgive you, not only for your sake, but also for my sake. There is no healing where there is hatred.”
After the meeting, Lee was charged with manslaughter instead of murder, reducing his potential sentence from 25 years to life to 10 years.
Murder charges are usually filed when someone dies as a result of another crime committed by the suspect. Manslaughter involves reckless behavior that results in death.
Lee is currently being held at a medium-security state prison in Otisville, New York, and will be eligible for parole in 2026.
DANIEL PENNY PROSECUTOR dangles race card again over defense objection despite no hate crime charges
Jordan Neely is pictured in 2009. (Andrew Savulich/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Penny, 26, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the top charge he faces: manslaughter.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Jurors began their deliberations on Tuesday.
“The defense here has blamed the system, the police response. Everyone is responsible for Jordan Neely’s death except the defendant,” Yoran told the jury as her closing arguments concluded. “All you need to establish here is that the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect killed Jordan Neely.”
