What to Know
- Jose Alba, a Manhattan bodega clerk, was attacked July 1 by a man who jumped the counter and shoved him into a wall, allegedly angered over an incident involving his girlfriend's declined EBT card and a little girl
- The man came back to the store after his girlfriend left and stormed the counter to attack Alba; eventually, Alba got his hands on a knife and stabbed the man three times. He died a short time later. Alba was accused of murder
- Shocking surveillance video of what unfolded in the Washington Heights convenience store, though, stoked community outrage. The Manhattan DA's office moved to drop the case Tuesday, saying it couldn't prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt. A judge granted the motion to dismiss
A judge on Tuesday dismissed the murder charge against a 61-year-old Manhattan bodega clerk accused of killing a man who first attacked him, ending a brief case that sparked outcry in New York City and across the country.
Tuesday's hearing for Jose Alba proceeded quickly and with little fanfare. He had not been expected to attend.
It was called after the Manhattan district attorney's office filed a motion to dismiss the second-degree murder charge against Alba in Austin Simon's July 1 stabbing death at the Blue Moon Convenience Store on Broadway, near 139th Street.
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The assistant district attorney said the office couldn't prove behind a reasonable doubt that Alba's use of deadly force was unjustified and thus would not present the case to a grand jury. It came after loudening cries to drop the case.
Much of the outcry stemmed from surveillance video that shows the 35-year-old Simon storm behind the counter and attack Alba. A fight breaks out moments later and Alba grabs a knife. He stabs Simon three times -- in the heart, lung and jugular vein, according to the prosecutors' motion. Simon was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later.
According to Tuesday's court filing, the stabbing stemmed from a physical confrontation that Simon started because he felt that Alba had treated his friend's 10-year-old daughter harshly. It says Alba pulled a snack out of the girl's hand when Simon's girlfriend couldn't buy it because her EBT card malfunctioned. Minutes after the girlfriend stormed out of the store, Simon returned, went into an employees-only area and shoved Alba into a wall of shelves, according to prosecutors.
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He then grabbed him by the collar to lift him out of the chair and force him out of the employee-only section to apologize to the girl. As Simon held him by the neck, Alba grabbed a knife from the shelf beside the counter and repeatedly stabbed Simon as the two struggled, according to the narrative from the Manhattan district attorney's office. Alba was arrested.
The Manhattan district attorney launched an investigation and after interviewing civilian witnesses who called 911, EMTs, cops, the medical examiner and others, as well as pouring over forensic evidence from the scene, video and medical records, determined it lacked sufficient evidence to proceed.
Mayor Eric Adams agreed with the prosecutors' decision.
"We had an innocent hard-working New Yorker that was doing his job and someone was extremely aggressive towards him. And I believe after the DA’s review, the DA in my opinion made the right decision," Adams said.
From his home, Alba declined to comment, as did his lawyer.
Alba spent nearly a week at Riker's Island with his bail set at a quarter of a million dollars -- an amount that prosecutors said Tuesday reflected his previously made plans to travel out of the country the week after Simon's death. It was dropped to $50,000 and Alba was released but he had to surrender his passport, stay in the city and agree to electronic monitoring.
Alba's case stoked outrage locally and nationally after shocking surveillance video of what unfolded inside the Washington Heights convenience story raised questions about whether it was truly a case of murder or self-defense.
