6’4 trans woman perp walked ‘after knifing USPS worker to death’ during argument

A trans woman has been charged with murder in the fatal stabbing of a New York City postal worker as she stood in line to buy lunch.

Jaia Cruz, 24, allegedly stabbed and killed 36-year-old Ray Hodge III after an argument that broke out between the two at a Harlem deli last week.

The 6-foot-2 Cruz pleaded not guilty after being charged with one count of murder and two counts of manslaughter with intent to cause bodily harm.

She was led out of a police station in handcuffs last Thursday, the same day as the deadly encounter.

Cruz allegedly spat in Hodge’s face and stabbed him multiple times with a steak knife at the deli after the pair argued over whose turn it was to order.

Hodge was found with wounds to his torso, neck and arms, but ultimately died from his injuries last Thursday. Police found him injured on the ground in his postal uniform.

A sandwich maker at the deli told me Daily news that Cruz had allegedly stepped in front of Hodge to place an order. “After I broke them apart, she came from behind me, she spit on him, in his face,” the deli said. The worker added that Hodge threw a plastic water bottle at Cruz, who responded by throwing a knife.

‘She stabbed him in the neck and one in the stomach. He keeps fighting, so we call the police and the ambulance, but he just lost and died,” the worker said.

Another customer, Janet Rich, told the outlet, “It was for a sandwich. It was, ‘I was next. No, I was next.'”

Rich and another customer tried to intervene, but neither Cruz nor Hodge would back down, Rich said.

“I got between them — twice,” said Rich, who recalled another woman joining her and trying to get Hodge to resign.

“Don’t do this, you have a good job, let this go,” Rich remembered the other woman saying.

However, Rich said, Hodge took off his jacket and told Cruz, “Are you trying to stab me?”

Cruz allegedly ran to her nearby home after the altercation, but was taken into custody not long after and charged with manslaughter, the Daily News reported.

Hodge’s brother told the newspaper: ‘Ray was a wonderful person. He was an honorable man. He took care of his family and everyone. Respectfully.’

A longtime friend of the mailman, Flip Morales, described Hodge as “a wonderful person.”

“He was a great father, a great person. He was always a working man. I would see him and he just goes to work. It’s just a mess that the family has to go throughUgh this,” Morales said.

‘He was just trying to make some money. That’s it. Just getting up and doing what you have to do to take care of his kids and his family, and things like that [happen].’

Friends, family and neighbors set up a memorial outside his home in the Bronx, placing his postal visor and candles.

Cruz’s attorney, Mitchell Schuman, denied that the incident stemmed from an argument at the deli.

“What this case is really about is how a woman has to live in fear day in and day out – like so many other trans women in this country – in fear of being mocked, harassed, attacked, often in fear of their lives for just existing.” , Schuman said.

“I don’t think we should rush Jaia Cruz or anyone else until we’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”

A leader for the advocacy group Strategic Transgender Alliance for Radical Reform (STARR) called the incident “tragic all around.”

“Any act of violence impacts both or all parties and can tear communities apart,” said Shauna Brooks, the group’s director of community engagement.

“All I want is for Ms. Cruz to have a fair chance at justice. Some situations are tragic all around, and this is one of them.”

Cruz’s case was postponed until January 22 and she will be held without bail until her next court appearance.