A New York antiviolence group says an alleged murderess accused of cackling while slaughtering a USPS worker should be spared jail because she’s a transgender woman of color.
Jaia Cruz, 24, has been charged with the murder of USPS worker Ray Hodges, 36, on January 2.
The two got into an argument after Hodges accused her of cutting in the sandwich line at Joe’s Grocery in the Bronx.
‘I hope he’s maggot food, Cruz, 24, told detectives in a recorded statement, according to court documents obtained by NY Daily News. ‘I killed him laughing. Oh, well. I’ll p**s on his grave.’
But now the New York City Anti-Violence Project has argued that Cruz shouldn’t be locked up pending her trial due to the threats she could face in jail because of her gender identity and race.
‘Jaia stands accused of a terrible crime,’ the group wrote on Facebook. ‘And she deserves safety in jail on Rikers, as well as access to bail.’
The group, headed by Audacia Ray, said that Cruz has previously suffered violence before on the streets of New York.
‘This past summer, video of her being viciously beaten on the street in full daylight circulated on social media,’ the statement added.
‘In the week since the incident, media accounts have misgendered, mocked, and dehumanized Jaia Cruz in a flagrant display of cis-supremacy, misogynoir, and transmisogyny.’
The group highlighted statistics claiming trans women of color are very vulnerable to violence behind bars.
Cruz has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Hodges and is being held without bail.
Prosecutors say she fatally stabbed the postman after they got into an argument in line at the deli.
Hodges began shouting homophobic remarks and struck Cruz three times before she pulled the knife, according to court documents.
‘I did spit on him because he called me a f—-t,’ Cruz’s confession reads. ‘I called him a dirty monkey. You said hurtful words, so I said hurtful words to you.
‘I told him, ‘You come to me and I’ll kill you’,’ Cruz reportedly told investigators. ‘No motherf—-rs are going to put their hands on me no more.
‘He tried to mess with me because I’m trans and I poked him up.’
Hodges was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he later died.
Cruz has maintained that she ‘blacked out’ during the fray.
‘My crazy has no rhyme or rhythm,’ Cruz told prosecutors. ‘I told him, ‘If you raise your hands, I’m going to stab you in the f–king jugular. You attacking me.’
Witnesses suggested that Cruz appeared to be high or intoxicated at the time and said they tried to intervene but neither party would back down.