The transgender woman who fatally stabbed a postal worker in a Harlem deli earlier this year was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday.
Jaia Cruz, 24, who ruthlessly murdered USPS worker Ray Hodges after an argument in January, was sentenced after reaching a plea deal, infuriating Hodges’ relatives at the Manhattan court hearing who demanded more time.
“This is completely evil. The mother of Hodges’ children, whose name was not immediately known, told Judge Gregory Carro, “This is a disgusting excuse for a human being, and you allowed a second chance.”
“When people like this are allowed to plea bargain, you end up with broken families and us. “I’m not satisfied with fifteen years,” she raged. “To all these postal workers, be careful when you are out there working your route.”
Cruz pleaded guilty in April to first-degree manslaughter in the death of Hodges, a 36-year-old father of two, on January 2 at Joe’s Deli Grocery.
Cruz knifed Hodges after he confronted her about cutting him in line at the bodega counter, later claiming that he “deserved it,” according to prosecutors.
At the sentencing on Thursday, an attorney for Cruz claimed Hodges made a “slur” about “her gender identity” during the deli fight.
The lawyer also listed the medications Cruz, who has a history of knife violence, has been taking to maintain her gender and requested that she be transferred to a female jail facility.
Following the sentencing, Hodges’ enraged family members began chanting “It’s a boy!” and “F-king boy!” in the courtroom, while other supporters wore “Justice for Ray” t-shirts.
Judge Carro described the fatal stabbing as a “senseless killing over a trivial misunderstanding.”
However, he added that “proving someone’s intent to kill is always difficult” — a possible explanation for the plea bargain and light sentence.
Cruz’s April plea agreement came less than three months after prosecutors charged her with second-degree murder in the broad daylight killing, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years to life.
