The suspect in the fatal stabbing of a New York City mail carrier in an altercation that apparently started over waiting in line at a deli has been identified and charged with murder.
Jaia Cruz, 24, was arrested and charged with murder in the second degree in connection with the death of Ray Hodges, a 36-year-old United States Postal Service (USPS) letter carrier assigned to Manhattan, FOX 5 NY reported.
Witnesses told police that Cruz stabbed Hodges on Thursday inside Joe’s Grocery on Malcolm X Blvd. and W 118th St. around 2: 30 p.m. during a dispute about who placed a deli order first, ABC 7 NY reported.
The USPS worker, who had stopped to get a sandwich while on duty, was left “gutted” and later died in Harlem Hospital, according to the New York Post.
Police recovered a knife from the bloody scene.
“I know the guys who deliver mail and just like that, he’s gone,” Uzo Guchisachi, who lives in the neighborhood, told FOX 5. “It’s very scary. Anytime you wake up, anything can happen.”
FreedomNews.Tv footage of Cruz being perp walked out of an NYPD police station shows her standing significantly taller than the male police officers — leaving some social media commenters speculating on whether or not the suspect is, in fact, a biological female.
That’s a man. And they know it.
— OnemoreRock (@RockOnemore) January 3, 2025
Is it a trans?
— 🗑️ Last Beacon of Hope God Bless America 🦅🙏🇺🇸 (@CovfefeKatie) January 3, 2025
The United States Postal Inspection Service responded to the incident in a statement:
The Postal Inspection Service can confirm that on January 2, 2025, a United States Postal Service letter carrier, assigned to Manhattan, was the victim of a homicide. The suspect was apprehended and is currently in custody. USPIS takes matters involving the safety and wellbeing of postal service employees as a top priority.
We are working diligently with the New York City Police Department on this investigation. To protect the integrity of this investigation, we cannot provide further details at this time. If your viewers have information, please contact postal inspectors at 212-330-2400.
A friend of Cruz’s who spoke to the local ABC station without showing her face on camera defended her, saying that she would believe her if she says the stabbing “was in self defense.”
“She’s a nice young lady. She is not the type that just come out in the street and attacking people,” the friend said. “This is just a bad neighborhood. What happened — I have no idea because I was not around yet. I don’t know, but I do know, if she said it was in self defense, it was in self defense.”
Charisse Artis, one of Hodges’ coworkers at the USPS, said she broke down in tears when she heard the unfortunate news.
“I told him ‘Happy New Year’s’ this morning,” she recalled to the New York Times.
