New York City police have arrested and charged a transgender woman in connection to the deadly stabbing of a U.S. Postal Service worker. According to police, the fatal incident began when the suspect and victim got into an verbal altercation in a Harlem deli on Jan. 2.
Ray Hodges, 36, had just delivered a package and decided to take a break and order food at a local deli, according to the New York Post. But while ordering his food at the counter, Jaia Cruz, allegedly walked in and interrupted him, according to a witnesses.
“He [Hodges] was in the store counting his money to check how much he had to order. She [Cruz] came in after him and... she put her bags by the coffee machine and she came to order,” an anonymous employee told The Post.
From there, the two started arguing and were eventually separated by deli workers. Things quickly escalated, however, when 24-year-old Cruz allegedly spit in Hodges’ face, according to the New York Post. “I was in the middle, and he was in front of me and she came from behind me and spit in his face,” the deli worker said. “That got him mad so he threw the bottle of lemon juice at her.”
According to the witness, that’s when Cruz pulled out a knife and lunged at the man. Hodge was stabbed multiple times in the neck, chest, and stomach, according to ABC News. “The postal worker collapsed with the knife by his side,” Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Clerkin said during Cruz’s court appearance.
When police arrived, Cruz had already fled the scene. Authorities later found her and brought her into custody. Hodges was brought to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“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.
According to The Post, Cruz was previously arrested five times for violent offenses including several knife attacks. The 24-year-old has now been charged with Hodges’ murder, according to USA Today.
Flip Morales, a longtime friend of Hodges, told the Daily News his friend was an “amazing person” and a “great father,” who “was always a working man.”