61-year-old Jose Alba is a New York City bodega worker. He is said to have fatally stabbed an ex-convict who was attacking him.
After being charged with murder, Alba was freed from Rikers Island on Friday.
The incident happened on July 1, in Manhattan, close to 11 p.m. Alba tried to ring up a bag of chips for a woman’s child, reports state. He couldn’t complete the transaction because the mother’s EBT card didn’t have enough funds on it.
The woman then exited the store, angrily, and went to get her boyfriend, Austin Simon, 35.
Camera surveillance footage depicts Simon going behind the store’s counter and pushing Mr. Alba into the shelves.
As Mr. Alba got up and walked past Simon, Simon grabbed Alba by the neck. The store clerk then stabbed Simon five times with a knife used for cutting boxes.
Mr. Simon was transported to a medical facility where he died from his injuries.
At some point during the incident, Mr. Simon’s girlfriend stabbed Mr. Alba in the shoulder, the clerk’s lawyer added.
At the time of the incident, Mr. Simon had been out on parole for assaulting a police officer. He had been convicted of assault eight times, robbery, and domestic abuse, previously.
Mr. Alba has been charged with second-degree murder. This could result in a 15 to 25-year prison sentence, and bail was set at $250,000.
The case has received national coverage as many people have sided with Alba’s actions.
A GoFundMe page was created that generated $200,000 to help the store clerk make bail. However, it was shut down and donors were given their money back. This came after the company stated that fundraising for legal defense isn’t allowed on its platform.
Mr. Alba’s bail was eventually lessened to $50,000.
Dang what happened to self defense