A New York City judge on Tuesday dropped a second-degree murder charge against a bodega owner who stabbed his attacker to death.
Earlier this month Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg charged 51-year-old Jose Alba with murder when he clearly acted in self defense.
Jose Alba was thrown into Rikers Island jail after he stabbed his attacker several times in self-defense.
Jennifer Sigall, the Assistant DA under Alvin Bragg said the prosecutor’s office could “not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force.”
Fox News reported:
Charges were dropped Tuesday against a New York City bodega worker arrested for the murder of man seen on surveillance video first coming behind the cashier’s desk and attacking the employee.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office faced harsh criticism for bringing the charge against Jose Alba earlier this month despite footage suggesting the deadly stabbing was justified as self-defense.
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.
Fox News confirmed that a judge dismissed the charge against Alba by Tuesday afternoon.
“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 Fox News.
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.”
Here’s the backstory:
Alba fatally stabbed Austin Simon, 35, a career criminal who violently attacked him behind the counter a couple weeks ago.
According to reports, Austin Simon’s girlfriend got into an argument with Alba after her EBT card was declined when she tried to purchase a bag of chips.
The disgruntled woman then left the bodega, ran home and returned with her boyfriend – and that’s when the confrontation escalated.
According to Alba’s defense lawyer, the 32-year-old woman took a knife out of her purse and stabbed the bodega worker in the shoulder, the New York Post reported.
She is not facing charges for stabbing Jose Alba – But Jose Alba was charged with second-degree murder for fatally stabbing Austin Simon – AFTER the assailants stabbed him and violently attacked him.
WATCH:
61-year-old bodega worker Jose Alba was attacked by an enraged career criminal, Austin Simon, who went behind the counter and choked him over a bag of chips. Alba defended himself, and Simon died. DA Alvin Bragg has charged him with murder. pic.twitter.com/FIfL1O1q7X
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 7, 2022
