N.Y.C. Woman, 24, Accused of Fatally Stabbing Postal Worker in Dispute Over Deli Line

Mar. 15, 2025

Jaia Cruz, a 24 year old female was arrested. She was in handcuffs and transported by the NYPD from the 28 Precinct after being charged in allegedly stabbing a USPS postal worker to death in a deli while working in Harlem. Thursday afternoon at approximately 2:38 PM, police responded to a 911 call for an assault inside of 168 Lenox Avenue. Upon arrival, officers observed a 36-year-old man victim identified as Ray Hodges with multiple stab wounds on the body. EMS responded and transported the man to NYC Health and Hospitals / Harlem where he was pronounced dead.

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A New York City postal worker is being remembered as an “honorable man” who “took care of his family” after a woman allegedly fatally stabbed him inside a Harlem deli this week.

Jaia Cruz, 24, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Thursday, Jan. 2, after police were called to Lenox Avenue in Harlem — between 118th and 119th Streets — around 2:38 p.m. local time. After arriving at the scene, New York Police Department (NYPD) officers discovered a man with “multiple stab wounds.”

The man, later identified as 36-year-old Bronx resident Ray Hodges, was transported via ambulance to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, where he was pronounced dead.

Cruz, a Harlem resident, was arrested later that same day.

According to theAssociated Press,NBC NewsandCBS News New York, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has confirmed that the victim was a letter carrier assigned to Manhattan.

“The Postal Inspection Service 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,” the USPS said in a statement to NBC News and CBS News New York.

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New York Police Department vehicle (stock image).Getty

Nypd police patrol car

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Janet Rich, a customer at the deli, toldThe New York Daily Newsthat the stabbing was “over a sandwich” and that she tried to intervene along with another person when the pair began to argue over who was first in line.A sandwich maker told the outlet, andThe New York Post, that the suspect stepped in front of the victim in line, before a dispute led to her allegedly spitting in his face, him throwing a plastic bottle and her pulling the knife.

After the stabbing, the suspect allegedly fled to her Harlem apartment before being arrested, per both outlets. It was not immediately clear if Cruz has retained an attorney.

Now, community members are mourning the loss of Hodges, whose brother described him as a “great person,” telling theDaily News,“He was an honorable man. He took care of his family and everybody."

Alejandro Alarcon, who told thePostthat Hodges delivers his mail, remembered him as being “real nice” and going out of his way for locals. Longtime friend Flip Morales told theDailyNewsthat Hodges was an “amazing person” and a “great father,” who “was always a working man.”

“It’s just messed up that the family gotta go through this,” Morales said. “He was trying to just make some money. That’s it. Just getting up doing what you gotta do to provide for his kids and his family, and things like this [happen].”

source: people.com