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.
The letter carrier was on duty and making his rounds before he popped into the deli, a usual spot for his lunch break.
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.
Two boys, both 17, shot inside Upper West Side bodega: sources
The deli worker said the two kept arguing, and people unsuccessfully tried to intervene.