A 24-year-old transgender woman, Jaia Cruz, received a 15-year prison sentence for stabbing a postal worker to death in Harlem earlier this year. Cruz pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the killing of Ray Hodges, 36, a USPS employee and father of two. The incident happened on January 2 at a local deli where an argument erupted after Cruz allegedly cut in line. Hodges confronted her, and Cruz responded by stabbing him. Prosecutors said Cruz later claimed Hodges “deserved it.”
During sentencing, Cruz’s lawyer revealed that Hodges had used a slur against Cruz’s gender identity during the confrontation. The attorney also noted Cruz’s history with knife violence and her ongoing medical treatments related to her gender transition, requesting that she be placed in a female correctional facility.
The plea deal and 15-year sentence angered Hodges’s family, who called it too lenient. In court, his relatives chanted protests and wore “Justice for Ray” shirts. Judge Gregory Carro described the killing as senseless and rooted in a trivial dispute but acknowledged the difficulty in proving intent to kill, which influenced the lighter sentence. Cruz had been indicted for second-degree murder, a charge that carries 25 years to life, but the plea reduced her sentence.
The case highlights tensions around plea bargains and sentencing, especially in violent crimes involving gender identity issues.
