A 36-year-old letter carrier was stabbed to death inside a bodega in Harlem on Thursday afternoon. The victim, identified as Ray Hodges, was found with severe stab wounds and pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to police, an argument over who was first in line led to the stabbing. A suspect, Jaia Cruz, 24, was arrested hours later and charged with second-degree murder.
The US Postal Inspection Service is working with police on the investigation. Friends of Hodges described him as quiet and laid-back, saying he was a kind person who would often go unnoticed by those around him.
A former colleague of Hodges visited the bodega on Thursday evening to pay her condolences, expressing shock and sadness at the news. The motive for the stabbing is still under investigation.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/02/nyregion/postal-worker-stabbed-harlem-bodega.html