HARLEM, Manhattan (WABC) — 1/3/25 – A community is mourning the loss of a 36-year-old postal worker who was stabbed and killed during a dispute in a Harlem deli on Thursday.
The warmth from dozens of candles could be felt on a frigid Friday morning as friends and neighbors stopped by the Mott Haven Houses to remember the life of Ray Hodge.
“I watched him grow up and to see him, you know, go from one stage of life to the next, to better himself, was anything you could ask from a kid,” neighbor Andrea M. said.
One friend told Eyewitness News that he and Hodge grew up together in the Bronx.
“We all loved him in the community. It’s a tragic loss…we’re going to celebrate him and keep his spirit alive,” the friend said. Read more at ABC 7
NY Post: Knife-wielding transgender woman accused of killing NYC postal worker smiles, rolls eyes in creepy video
Transgender woman stabs New York letter carrier to death over sandwich
A transgender woman with a history of violence is accused of fatally stabbing a postal worker in New York City on Thursday after being cut in line for lunch.
Police say Jaia Cruz had been arrested at least five times before she allegedly gutted Ray Hodges, 36, with a knife after he cut her in line at a Harlem deli, the New York Post reported.
Cruz, 24, threatened to slash someone with a box cutter in July 2020 and then resisted when officers came to arrest her, the Post reported. Two weeks later, Cruz and an accomplice were arrested for allegedly using knives to steal a man’s phone and wallet.
Deli workers told ABC News 7 the dispute arose over a sandwich and who had ordered first. One worker said he tried to intervene but was unable to stop the violence.
Cruz has been charged with second-degree murder, media reported.