A worker at a New York City bodega was attacked earlier this month by a career criminal after he came behind the counter and was forced to defend himself.
After he was shoved to the floor and berated, the attacker forced Jose Alba to his feet and was walking him out from back behind the counter when Alba produced a knife and stabbed the man several times including once in the neck, killing him.
New York City prosecutors charged Alba with second-degree murder, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs announced Tuesday that he will not be filing any charges and won’t allow the case to proceed.
“Following an investigation, the People have determined that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force. As such, the People will not be presenting the case to a Grand Jury and for the reasons provided in the attached memorandum, hereby move to dismiss the complaint,” Bragg’s office wrote in court documents obtained by .
Manhattan bodega worker charged with murder. Woman who didn't have enough money for her item, went to the car to get her boyfriend, who then came behind the counter to attack the clerk.. Jose Alba, 51, cut the man up, and is being charged with murder. Held on $250,000 bail.
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Jennifer Sigall, assistant district attorney under Bragg, issued a motion Tuesday morning to dismiss the second-degree murder charge against Alba and provided a copy to his attorney, Michelle Villasenor-Grant, the outlet reported.
Bragg’s office faced tremendous criticism after bringing charges against Alba.
Fox News added:
Alba repeatedly stabbed Austin Simon behind the counter in the Blue Moon convenience store at 3422 Broadway in Manhattan at approximately 11:00 p.m. on July 1, according to court documents.
The district attorney’s office admitted Tuesday that the “death stemmed from a physical confrontation that Simon started because he believed that Alba had harshly treated the ten-year-old daughter of Simon’s girlfriend.”
Alba had pulled out of the daughter’s hand a snack that the girlfriend could not purchase due to a malfunctioning Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Card.
The girlfriend shouted expletives at the clerk and said her boyfriend would be back to “f*** you up.”
Some minutes later, Simon came into the store and entered the small employees-only area behind the counter. He then shoved Alba against a wall of shelving, and grabbed him by the collar to lift him out of a chair and force him out, prosecutors said. He then said he wanted Alba to apologize to the girl and then come outside to fight him.
“I don’t want a problem, papa,” Alba is heard on an audio recording telling Simon.
As Simon continued to lead him out, Alba grabbed a large knife from a nearby shelf and stabbed Simon first in the neck and then several other places. The neck wound severed the internal jugular vein. He died at the hospital. The coroner’s office said Simon was stabbed six times.
The district attorney’s office cited state statute that narrowly defines the circumstances where a deadly physical force, such as homicide, is “justifiable and not criminal.”
Alba’s arrest was blasted by Fox News co-host of “Outnumbered,” Kayleigh McEnany.
“I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone. What kind of sick, twisted place are we sitting in here in the middle of New York City, where this man who is defending himself is put in jail?” McEnany, who is a lawyer and a former White House press secretary under then-President Trump, said.
“Thank goodness we live in a country that’s trial by jury. I hope these charges are dropped,” McEnany added.
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