An employee of a bodega in New York City is celebrating the dismissal of murder charges against him by the city’s district attorney.
Jose Alba, 61, was photographed on Tuesday with the head of the Bodega and Small Business Association of New York, according to exclusive DailyMail.com photos.
A man who physically assaulted Alba over a bag of chips was tragically stabbed by Alba. According to the store worker, he was acting in self-defense.
After receiving harsh criticism—including from the mayor of the city—for initially accusing the senior employee, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office on Tuesday sought a judge to dismiss the charges against Alba.
When reporters approached Alba outside of his house, he stated he was feeling “so so” and thought justice had been done. Additionally, he said that the injuries he suffered in the altercation are “healing.”
On July 1, while working at the Blue Moon deli, Alba fatally stabbed Austin Simon in the neck and chest. Alba had been charged with second-degree murder.
The convenience store clerk in Hamilton Heights was shoved into a stack of shelves by Simon, 37, who then stepped behind the counter and grabbed him, according to surveillance footage.
Only then did Alba move over to a shelf and take a knife out of her pocket to defend herself.
Alba was allegedly stabbed by Simon’s girlfriend during the confrontation after her benefits card was turned down. The girlfriend was never charged in connection with the incident.
Prosecutors “have determined that we cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was not justified in his use of deadly physical force,” according to the petition to dismiss filed on Tuesday.
The document said that the case will not be brought before a grand jury because “a homicide case against Alba could not be proven at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The 61-year-old was seen on Tuesday taking a selfie with the president of the bodega association, Francisco Marte, and appeared to be thrilled about the prosecutors’ decision to drop the accusations.
Marte stood by Alba’s side as he spoke to the media while he was concealed behind his apartment door. The scar from the wound he sustained during the incident was visible on his arm in the photos taken.
The response Alba gave when asked how he was feeling was, “I’m so so.”
He assured the media that he was “healing” and that everything was fine.
A reporter questioned, “Do you think justice has been served?”
He answered, “Yes.”
‘How do you feel about not having shackles?’ another asked.
He said: ‘I feel better cuz I don’t have it.’
Alba declined to comment further, noting: ‘I will be speaking soon.’ He said he couldn’t discuss the incident now ‘due to what the lawyer advised me.’
He was also asked to show his face, but declined to do so, prompting reporters to say ‘Jose, people want to see you’ and ‘everybody is supporting you.’
Marte hit back, reiterating that Alba would not be stepping out from behind the door: ‘We appreciate the support but for his safety and by the lawyers advice we can’t show his face.’
After accusing Alba, District Attorney Bragg had drawn harsh criticism, especially from Mayor Eric Adams.
Although a court must confirm the progressive district attorney’s decision to drop the charges, Alba’s legal experience is most likely over.
Once video of Simon, who has already been found guilty of prior attacks, pushing Alba into a shelf surfaced, there was more pressure on Bragg to dismiss the charges against Alba.
The video captures the two struggling before Alba took his knife and began stabbing Simon.
Other recordings obtained by DailyMail.com depict Simon, who was on parole for assaulting a police officer at the time of his death, approaching Alba from behind the bodega counter.
Alba said calmly, “Papa, I don’t want a problem, papa.”
After his partner attempted to purchase a bag of chips for her daughter but her electronic benefits card was rejected, Simon rushed into the Blue Moon convenience store.
The woman, who claimed Alba snatched the bag of chips from the child, is heard on the video asking Alba: ‘Did you put food?’
Alba responds that he’ll try her card another time.
‘OK, mama, let me do it another time. My God,’ he says to her as she insists: ‘There’s money on there.’
But he swipes the EBT card multiple times and hands it back to her, saying it’s not working.
The edited footage cuts to show other customers in the bodega as the woman is heard yelling out of view from the camera.
‘You can’t touch my daughter. Don’t snatch that out of my daughter, you f***ing piece of shit!’
The woman had reported that Alba snatched the bag of chips from her daughter’s hands when they couldn’t pay.
She continues, ‘I’m gonna bring my n****r down here and he gonna f–k you up. My n****r is gonna come down here right now and f**k you up!’
Alba tells her it’s not his fault and the card wasn’t working.
Another woman asked, ‘Did they take something from you?’ Alba replied, ‘No, I take it back.’
Simon can then be seen on the video storming into the store and walking behind the counter where he confronts Alba.
‘What’s up with you? N****r what is wrong with you?’ he yells at him.
It is then that Simon pushes Alba into the shelf. According to court filings, Alba responded by stabbing Simon in the heart, lung, and jugular vein.
In the video, Simon was seen lying out on the floor of the bodega, covered in blood, and his girlfriend can be heard yelling, “That was over $3. Three f***ing dollars.” He snatched something out of my daughter…please help him.’
According to insiders, authorities believe the woman was defending her lover when she allegedly attacked the shop worker and was not punished.
After the fight, Simon was taken to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. Alba was then detained on murder charges and sent to the notorious Riker’s Island prison in the city.
His bond was originally set at $250,000, but as the outrage grew, the district attorney’s office reduced it to $50,000.
Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams was one of many who backed Alba and even paid a visit to the bodega to show his support.
‘I’m a person that’s there for people following the law. I saw from the video, I saw a voter here inside the store following the law…It’s time for New Yorkers and Americans to start standing up for people who follow the law,’ he said.
Republican gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin also slammed Bragg’s decision to charge Alba, tweeting: ‘My first Day 1 action as Governor next January will be to fire Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.’
Alba’s fellow bodega workers said they will not let him return to work because they fear the victim’s friends will come to harm him.
‘We’re not letting him come back,’ a Blue Moon Convenience store worker named ‘Wilson’ told the New York Post.
Wilson said the ‘friends and family’ of the slain man now know where Alba works and his coworkers fear it’s a ‘death sentence’ if he returns to his post.