Prior to meeting Penny, Neely had a troubling history of drug misuse and mental health problems, having been jailed forty-two times.
Given the circumstances surrounding Neely’s death, particularly the fact that Neely was still alive when police officers arrived on the scene, many observers and experts felt that Bragg should never have filed the case against Penny.
In civil court, Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, is suing Penny for damages resulting from his son’s death. According to a 2023 profile of Neely published by New York Magazine, Zachery. W
ho allegedly threatened to harm one of Penny’s attorneys in the courtroom on Monday and said that “the system is rigged” after the conviction, was notably missing from Neely’s early years.
