NEW YORK— A transgender woman is charged with murder after allegedly stabbing a postal worker to death during a dispute at a Harlem deli, authorities said.
Jaia Cruz, 24, is accused of fatally stabbing Ray Hodges, a 36-year-old USPS employee and father of two, after an argument at Joe’s Deli Grocery on Lenox Avenue on Thursday.
Witnesses told police that the two started arguing while waiting in line, and the argument escalated when Cruz spit in Hodges’ face and stabbed him in the stomach.
Hodges was taken to Harlem Hospital, where he died from his injuries, according to law enforcement. Two members of Hodges’ grieving family declined to comment, only stating that they were “not doing well.”
