‘It’s scary’: Postal worker killed after fight about deli line, police say

HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) – A 24-year-old woman is accused of fatally stabbing a USPS mail carrier over a dispute about who was next in line at a deli, police said. 

Jaia Cruz, a 24-year-old from Harlem, is accused of stabbing Ray Hodges seven times, police said. She was arrested and charged with second-degree murder, police said.

Ray Hodges, 36, of the Bronx, was working his normal postal route when he went to get lunch. As he was waiting to pay, a dispute erupted and quickly turned deadly, police said. 

Hodges was rushed to an area hospital but couldn’t be saved. Police found a knife at the scene.

“It’s scary, the man is doing his job, they come to my building every day,” Harlem local Uzo Guchisschi told PIX11 News. “ I know the guys who deliver mail, and just like that he’s gone."