MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — Weeks after a deadly encounter inside a Washington Heights bodega, Jose Alba showed injuries he suffered during the incident. The unidentified woman who allegedly caused those injuries will not be charged, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office told PIX11 News Tuesday.
Victim Austin Simon’s girlfriend allegedly stabbed Alba during a July 1 confrontation, which began when she and her 10-year-old daughter entered a bodega around 11 p.m. and tried to purchase snacks. The woman’s electronic benefits card was then denied, which allegedly led to an argument between her and Alba, who was acting as a cashier, according to a criminal complaint.
The woman then “left the store and informed her boyfriend, Austin Simon, of the clerk’s actions,” according to police.
Simon confronted Alba behind the counter, police said, pushing him once during the argument. When Simon “attempted to steer [Alba] out of the area behind the counter,” Alba allegedly picked up a knife and stabbed him multiple times in the neck and chest.
When Simon’s girlfriend attempted to intervene, Alba allegedly continued to stab him until the woman pulled out her own knife and allegedly stabbed him.
A source told PIX11 News that charges would not be brought against Simon’s girlfriend because it would be difficult to prove “she was not acting in self-defense, given Mr. Alba’s actions against Mr. Simon.”
Alba, 61, had murder charges against him dropped Tuesday.
“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,” wrote Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Sigall in a motion to dismiss the charge.
