The man accused of fatally stabbing an ex-con straphanger after the assailant punched him and his girlfriend told The Post on Tuesday that he’s been going to church and “just trying to get through day by day.
“It’s scary, I’ll tell you that,’’ said 20-year-old Jordan Williams, breaking his silence for the first time since the headline-grabbing incident, after a routine court appearance in Brooklyn.
“It’s nothing I ever foresaw for myself. It’s nothing I ever want to experience again when this is all over,” said the young man — who was accompanied to court by his girlfriend.
“It is a terrible situation, but I am trying to get through it.
“These days, I’ve been going to church,” Williams said. “I went to church yesterday. Other than that, I’m staying home and reconnecting with my faith.
“I’ve been trying to get my mind right,” he said. “I’m feeling alright, under the circumstances.”
Williams is free without bail while facing manslaughter and weapons charges in last week’s fatal stabbing of 36-year-old Devictor Ouedraogo on a J train in Williamsburg.
Williams and his girlfriend were riding the subway around 8 p.m. Tuesday while Ouedraogo allegedly harassed straphangers.
According to witnesses, Ouedraogo approached Williams’ girlfriend and asked her, ‘Want to f–k?”
Williams allegedly pushed the older man when he persisted in harassing them, with Ouedraogo then reportedly slugging Williams and his girlfriend — and sparking a brawl that ended with Ouedraogo dead.
Brooklyn prosecutors asked for Wiliams to be held on $100,000 bail at his arraignment Thursday, but Judge Sherveal Mimes instead released the suspect without bail pending Tuesday’s court appearance.
“I really do not believe that you pose a flight risk – I just don’t,” Mimes told Williams at the time. “I think that your whole life is ahead of you. I think that you have every reason to fight this case with the support of your family.”
Williams remains free without bail.
The case bears similarities to the high-profile arrest of US Marine Daniel Penny, who was charged in the May 1 choking death of threatening vagrant Jordan Neely aboard a Manhattan subway train.
Penny has claimed he stepped in because he thought Neely posed a danger to straphangers.
In an interview with The Post on Monday, Williams’ father, James Williams, said that while there are similarities between the two incidents, there are also “intricate differences” — including that his son was physically attacked.
Williams’ mom, April, said outside the courtroom Tuesday that her son “jumped into survival mode.
“What would you do if someone was beating you in the face?” she said. “You jump into survival mode. That’s what he did, he jumped into survival mode.
“I taught my sons to do the right thing so they’re not in this position,” she said. “Well, here Jordan is in this position in spite of doing the right thing. That can be daunting, but we support him 1000%.”
Williams is due back in court Aug. 2, with a grand jury possibly weighing charges before then.
“No one is looking to rush this grand-jury process,” Williams’ lawyer, Jason Goldman, said Tuesday. “In the event he is indicted, we will then be asking for the earliest possible trial date.”
Ouedraogo’s family has not been available for comment.