Update: Curtis Sliwa reported last night on his show right after midnight that the killer is a transgender.
NY Post:
The 36-year-old USPS worker and father-of-two was grabbing lunch at Joe’s Deli Grocery at 168 Lenox Ave. when he and Cruz started arguing while in line, bodega employees previously told The Post.
Cruz quickly became enraged, spit in Hodge’s face, and gutted him in the stomach, police said. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he died, cops said.
[…]
Even before the heinous Harlem slaying, Cruz had a rap sheet with five arrests, including once in July 2020 for waving an open box cutter at a person in Midtown West and shouting, “I’m going to cut him,” according to police sources.
He also resisted arrest.
Orignal Story
A 24-year-old woman stabbed a 36-year-old man for allegedly cutting a line in a Harlem deli. A woman has been charged after a USPS worker was stabbed and killed inside a deli while on the job in Harlem on Thursday afternoon, police said.
Jaia Cruz, 24, of Harlem, was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of 36-year-old Ray Hodge III, according to police.
Officers responded to the deli at 168 Lenox Avenue after 2:30 p.m. and found Hodge stabbed or slashed multiple times inside the deli, including in the torso, arms, back, and neck.
He was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem, where he was pronounced dead.
NYC postal worker k1lled over an argument about a spot in a deli line. pic.twitter.com/nbgEW53y2F
— Damon Strong (@DamonStrong) January 4, 2025
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