A transgender girl who fatally stabbed a USPS postal employee at a New York Metropolis deli was formally sentenced to fifteen years in jail for the killing, sparking an uproar within the courtroom amongst relations.
Jaia Cruz, 24, pleaded responsible final month to manslaughter in reference to the stabbing loss of life of 36-year-old Ray Hodge III.
Cruz fatally stabbed Hodge at a Manhattan deli after a dispute broke out between the pair over who was subsequent in line.
A deli employee instructed CBS Information that Cruz turned infuriated with Hodge over their line placement whereas Hodge was on the counter ordering a sandwich. Prosecutors say Cruz began an argument with him and spat on him. After Hodge threw a lemon juice bottle in response, Cruz pulled out a knife and stabbed the daddy of two seven instances.
In alternate for the responsible plea, prosecutors dropped the second-degree homicide cost Cruz confronted and assured Cruz would solely must serve 15 years in jail for manslaughter. Cruz, who has a prison historical past of knife violence, may have confronted 25 years in jail if convicted at trial.
The choice drew outrage and scathing criticism from family members near Hodge.
“In 15 years, her life goes on. Ray Hodge III, useless. Gone. Not coming again. So I’ve an issue with that,” Hodge’s mom, Ada Rice, mentioned in April. “I simply really feel cheated. My son was murdered.”
Throughout Cruz’s sentencing listening to, the mom of Hodge’s youngsters addressed the courtroom and denounced the plea settlement.
“That is pure evil. This can be a disgusting excuse for a human being, and also you allowed a second probability,” the mom of Hodges’ youngsters instructed Choose Gregory Carro, per the New York Submit. “When folks like this are allowed plea bargains, you get damaged households, you get us. I’m not pleased with 15 years. To all these postal staff, watch out if you find yourself on the market working your route.”
Choose Carro known as the stabbing a “mindless killing over a trivial misunderstanding,” however pointed to the plea deal and defined that “proving somebody’s intent to kill is all the time troublesome.”
An legal professional for Cruz accused Hodge of escalating the dispute on the deli when he known as Cruz a “slur” about “her gender identification.” Cruz’s lawyer listed drugs that Cruz takes to keep up a distinct gender and requested that his shopper be positioned in a girls’s jail.
It’s unclear at the moment the place Cruz will serve out her sentence.
