An on-duty postal worker was stabbed to death inside a bodega in Harlem on Thursday after arguing with a woman over who was next in line to order.
Ray Hodges, who worked for the U.S. Postal Service, died shortly before 3 p.m. Thursday as he was being taken to the hospital, the New York Post reported. Police responded to the incident around 2:40 p.m. The knife-wielding suspect, Jaia Cruz, was arrested hours later and charged with second-degree murder.
The mailman’s death marks New York City’s third murder in 2025. The two previous homicides occurred early New Year’s Day, with a 50-year-old man getting slashed in the neck in Harlem and 46-year-old Mario Fowler suffering gunshot wounds to both legs in the Bronx. At least eight others were injured in several knifing and shooting incidents as the city rang in the new year.
Cruz, 24, reportedly went ballistic after Hodges, 36, stepped in front of her in line at the small deli. She stabbed him in the stomach multiple times and left him to die. Law enforcement recovered the knife at the scene.
As she was escorted out by the police, Cruz hid her face and refused to answer questions from the press.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service said it is working closely with the New York Police Department on the investigation.
Another postal worker was attacked Friday morning in Manhattan, but she survived. The 32-year-old woman was hit in the stomach with an object carried by a female assailant. The postal worker was taken to the hospital for treatment.
One of Hodges’s former co-workers, Charisse Artis, mourned his death Thursday evening at the Harlem bodega. In a comment to the New York Times, she said Hodges was “very quiet, very laid back” and that she wished him a “Happy New Year’s” that morning hours before the fatal stabbing.
Additionally, a mass shooting took place outside a Queens nightclub Wednesday night that left ten injured but caused no fatalities. Over 100 people had gathered to remember 16-year-old Taearion Mungo, who was gunned down in October. Wednesday night’s shooting was believed to have been a gang-related hit.
New York City has been plagued by violent crime in recent years, although the Big Apple saw a decrease in several forms of violent crime last year. In 2024, the NYPD says homicides fell 4 percent compared to the previous year and shootings dropped 8 percent, per ABC 7 Eyewitness News. New York City ended the year with 376 killings.