Accused UES Juice Shop Stabber Indicted By Grand Jury: DA

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A grand jury handed down a six-count indictment against accused juice shop stabber Cha'la Jamison on Wednesday, including charges for attempted murder and several counts of assault and burglary.

“As alleged, Cha’la Jamison viciously attacked a juice bar employee over a declined transaction, leaving him on the ground and bleeding profusely,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. “This stabbing should not have happened and could have led to a tragic death."

Officials said that on April 12, Jamison, 23, got in an argument with worker Luis Morocho Vasquez at a Savoy Plaza Juice Island on Third Avenue near East 61st Street at about 6:30 p.m. because Jamison's payment was declined.

Vasquez, 39, said in a press conference last month that she offered Jamison to take her drink for free so he could tend to other customers.

As the argument escalated, police claim that Jamison eventually left the store.

She returned at about 8:30 p.m. and grabbed a knife from the counter, using it to stab Vasquez several times in his head, neck, back and hands for nearly 30 seconds straight.

"I turned around, there was the lady with a knife," Vasquez, an immigrant from Ecuador, told CBS2.

Jamison ran away toward the river on East 61st Street as medics rushed the critically injured man to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, police said.

She was arrested on April 17 at her East 56th Street apartment, where she attempted to flee via the fire escape with a bag full of wigs, police said.

"Our store workers deserve to be safe at work and should not have to fear they will get attacked by customers for simply doing their jobs," Bragg said. "My thoughts are with the victim as he continues healing from his injuries.”