Horrific: Postal Worker Fatally Stabbed at New York Deli

A dispute between two customers at a deli in New York turned physical and then deadly. 

An absolutely awful crime that has left one man dead occurred Thursday afternoon. A United States postal worker lost his life after he was stabbed by a woman after an argument about which customer was there first to order.

Ray Hodges, 36, was the man who lost his life when 24-year-old Jaia Cruz stabbed him in Harlem, New York.

ABC 7 reports that the deli says that it all started over a sandwich order and quickly turned physical. A Friend of Jaia Cruz said they don't believe she would have attacked someone without being provoked first.

This is just a bad neighborhood. What happened, I have no idea because I was not around yet. I don't know, but I do know, if she said it was in self defense, it was in self defense.

 

A weapon was recovered at the scene of the crime, but it's not clear what was used to fatally stab Hodges.

The US Post office confirmed that Hodges was assigned to Manhattan and rleased the following statement about the incident.

USPIS takes matters involving the safety and wellbeing of postal service employees as a top priority. We are working diligently with the New York City Police Department on this investigation.

After the incident took place a group of postal workers gathered at the scene of the crime and were visibly shaken. One postal worker said that she would describe Hodges as a "nice young man."

This is an on-going investigation.