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HARLEM, Manhattan (PIX11) – A U.S. Postal Service worker who was stabbed to death in New York City on Thursday was a family man raising two children, according to those who knew him.
Ray Hodge, a letter carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, was fatally stabbed during a fight at a deli in Manhattan, police said. The stabbing happened at Joe’s Grocery at 168 Lenox Ave. in Harlem around 2:30 p.m., according to the NYPD.
An employee who was inside the deli at the time of the stabbing said Hodge went to the counter to buy a sandwich. The deli worker said 24-year-old Jaia Cruz was behind Hodge in the store and started arguing over who was in line first.
“He told her, ‘I’m trying to order my sandwich. I was here,’” said the deli worker.
“I separate them. She came from behind me, and she spit on him,” said the deli worker.
The deli worker said Hodge grabbed a bottle to defend himself.
“She took a knife and stabbed him in the neck and his stomach,” said the deli worker.
Hodge was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.