After being charged with murder for allegedly defending himself against a customer, a NY bodega clerk has relocated out of the city.

Jose Alba is also considering moving back to his home in the Dominican Republic following previous news that the murder charges against him have been dropped.

“He is taking a hiatus right now,” said Bodega Association Head Francisco Marte in an interview with the Daily Mail. “He went upstate to get away from everything. He is not going back to work at the bodega. He is taking a break fighting with his trauma, and he said he is afraid for his life.”

A fight between Alba and 35-year-old Austin Simon took a turn for the worst after the 61-year-old stabbed Simon as self-defense after he was attacked following an argument between the two.

Alba was confronted by Simon when his girlfriend’s card declined at the register. Following the tragedy, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg requested for the murder charges against the worker to be dropped after backlash from the public and criticism from New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

“My heart goes out for this hard-working, honest New Yorker that was doing his job in his place of business, where a person came in and went behind the counter and attacked him,” said Adams in a previous statement. “The DA has a non-mandate, where we cannot dictate or mandate how he determines how he’s going to prosecute crimes. That is up to the district attorney, and I’m not going to second-guess the district attorney for his actions.”

Furthermore, Adams said the video evidence regarding the incident suggests that Alba did not break the law.

“We have enough people who are there for people who break the law,” he continued. “As I saw it, from the video, I saw a worker here following the law, and he should not have been approached in the manner that he was approached.”

At the time of the altercation, Alba was stabbed by Simon’s girlfriend. Her identity has not been released.