Northeast
Mailman's family breaks silence after father of 2 killed on lunch break
A 24-year-old transgender New Yorker has been charged with murder for allegedly knifing a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in the stomach while he was waiting in line to buy lunch.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) identified the victim as Ray Hodge III, a 36-year-old postal carrier and father of two. Police said he suffered multiple stab wounds after an argument broke out while the two were standing in line. He was on duty at the time of the attack.
“We are extremely hurt and saddened by the loss of my brother,” his brother Ed Rice told Fox News Digital in the family’s first public remarks. “He was a remarkable person and touched a lot of people in a positive manner. We have been silent in our grieving and are handling my brother’s affairs.”
SUSPECT CHARGED IN FATAL STABBING OF POSTAL WORKER IN NYC DELI OVER SPOT IN LINE HAS HISTORY OF KNIFE VIOLENCE
USPS postal carrier Ray Hodge III delivers the mail in an undated family photo provided by his brother, Ed Rice. (Courtesy of Ed RIce)
He also shared a GoFundMe campaign to help the family cover funeral costs.
“Ray touched the lives of everyone he interacted with,” the fundraiser reads. “Ray was a hardworking, honorable and good man whose life epitomized his values and his willingness to help others. Ray touched the lives of so many and we all are truly blessed to have known and had the opportunity to love him.”
Hodge’s suspected killer has been identified as Jaia Cruz, also known as Alvin. Video shows police escorting Cruz out of the NYPD’s 28th Precinct on Thursday.
The 6-foot-4-inch suspect’s face was hidden inside a sweatshirt, and Cruz did not respond to shouted questions from reporters.
Jaia Cruz, 24, in handcuffs and transported by the NYPD from the 28th Precinct after being charged with stabbing a USPS worker to death in a deli while working in Harlem. (Kyle Mazza/SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
Cruz allegedly spit in the victim’s face then drove the knife into his stomach in a fight that broke out over their places in line, according to the New York Post.
The attack happened around 2:30 p.m. Thursday at a deli on Lenox Avenue in Harlem. Police found Hodge with multiple stab wounds to his torso, neck and arms, and he was rushed to Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
NYPD MAKES ARREST IN FATAL STABBING OF ON-DUTY POSTAL WORKER
Hodge’s colleagues at the USPS remembered him as a “great, kind soul” on social media.
A flyer with information about the memorial services for USPS postal carrier Ray Hodge III, who was killed in a New York City stabbing Thursday while on his lunch break. (Courtesy of Ed Rice)
The suspect, Cruz, has a criminal record that includes prior acts of knife violence, including a mugging.
Cruz’s attorney waived his client’s right to appear Wednesday, and arraignment was scheduled for Jan. 22.
As the New York case moves forward, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Postal Service’s law enforcement arm, is asking anyone with additional information on the case to call investigators at 1-877-876-2455.
The NYPD has charged Jaia Cruz in the fatal stabbing of a USPS worker inside a Harlem deli on Thursday afternoon. (Peter Gerber)
“The Postal Inspection Service takes matters involving the safety and well-being of postal service employees as a top priority,” a USPIS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We are working diligently with the New York City Police Department on this investigation.”
The slaying comes months after Chicago police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with the ambush murder of a mail carrier in the Windy City. Octavia Redmond, 48, was killed on July 19 when the teen allegedly jumped out of a stolen SUV and opened fire, according to the USPIS.
She was also on duty at the time.
Jaia Cruz is suspected of stabbing the USPS employee multiple times during an argument at a deli in Harlem where the mail carrier was waiting to buy lunch. (Kyle Mazza/SOPA Images/Sipa USA)
“We know that we have to continue delivery every day. That’s the motto: rain, sleet or snow we go,” one of her colleagues, Elise Foster, told FOX 32 Chicago at the time. “We don’t do bullets. We can’t do them.”
The NYPD has charged Jaia Cruz in the fatal stabbing of a USPS worker inside a Harlem deli on Thursday afternoon. (Peter Gerber)
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and Julia Bonavita contributed to this report.
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Erin Evans is a Portland-based master beekeeper and small business owner, She previously served as director of finance and administration at Maine Audubon and as CFO/COO of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
Honey bees are Maine’s official state insect and a keystone species in our ecosystem. Like tiny flying dustmops, they sample their surroundings, collecting pollen, nectar and contaminants that reveal what’s in our soil, our water and our air.
As a local beekeeper measuring PFAS in my own hives, I stand with the Maine farmers,
families and advocates on the front lines of this issue, and it’s why I support Dr. Nirav Shah as our next governor.
The Rutgers-New Brunswick Eagleton Institute of Politics recently shared a 2025 database on scientists, engineers and healthcare professionals leading our nation in state legislatures. Out of more than 7,000 lawmakers, there are just over 200 legislators who are also scientists, engineers or healthcare professionals.
While Maine was among the highest representation, with 11 members, I can’t help but wonder how different our response will be to present and emerging environmental crises if we have someone trained in both law and scientific thinking as our next governor.
As a public health leader, who’s already guided us through a once-in-a-lifetime crisis, Dr. Shah understands that PFAS isn’t just “out there.” It’s in our soil, food, water and in our bodies and will have a public health impact for generations. Best of all, he’s already been doing the work.
During his time as director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Shah recognized how widespread PFAS contamination is in Maine’s soil and water. Now, at a time when science-informed leadership is more essential than ever, he’s made PFAS protection a top priority.
Maine has made real strides in addressing forever chemicals by becoming the first state to launch an emergency relief fund, ban sludge-based fertilizers loaded with PFAS and create a permanent PFAS response program. We’ve also tested hundreds of sites, identified 34 high-priority towns and awarded $3.5 million in grants for research.
But even with this progress, the real challenge is how Maine deals with problems that last longer than any one administration.
It’s time we see PFAS and other environmental contamination crises not as political hot potatoes but as persistent issues affecting ecosystems across all of Maine. Do we continue to follow the status quo where politically entrenched candidates, beholden to the legacies of prior leaders and corporate interests, dictate the response? Or do we choose science and a leader familiar with critical outside-the-box thinking? Who should sit at that table as we create policies and laws to study, analyze, manage and reduce the threat of harmful chemicals to Mainers and the environment we all love?
In her recently released book “Inescapable: Facing Up to Forever Chemicals,” journalist F. Marina Schauffler reminds us that Maine’s taxpayers have already paid hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to PFAS contamination, and we’re nowhere near done.
PFAS chemicals will stay around for a long time, and so will the government systems that we set up to respond to these crises. Dr. Shah’s background in law and public health, especially in responding to exposure risks, makes him the leader we need in the Blaine House.
Most of all, he knows that in Maine and across the nation, climate change, water safety, soil health and human health are all interconnected, and part of the same sets of challenges. Our solutions will need to be well planned and well coordinated. Just ask the bees.
On Sunday, the Massachusetts women’s rowing team headed to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Mass., for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association’s Eastern Sprints. There, the Minutewomen faced 14 teams from various Northeastern conferences, with Temple being UMass’ only Mid-American Conference opponent. A Northwest tailwind with wind gusts up to 12 mph offered a fair day on the racecourse.
The varsity eights proved to be good competition early on. The Minutewomen broke 6:30 for the second consecutive weekend, but it was not enough to land them a spot in the grand finale. Brown finished first overall in the heats with a 6:14 time, putting just 15 seconds between the top nine boats across all three heats. The petite final was just as competitive, with boats finishing within a second of each other. UMass took second place with a 6:30.19, which put the Minutewomen in eighth place overall.
California native AJ Prahl coxed the second varsity eight to a speedy 6:48.26, which landed the boat in lane six of its final. The boat’s final time was 6:50.11, landing second in its respective final and eighth place overall. UMass kept its gap behind the first-place-finisher, Columbia, under 10 seconds, and just managed to stay ahead of Cornell by a bow ball, finishing within the same second.
The second varsity four kicked off racing on Sunday in one of two heats. The Minutewomen came in with a 7:36.4, sending them to the petite final. The boat came in 10 seconds behind Northeastern and beat Boston College by just under a second. Coxswain Sara Lavigna commanded the boat to fourth in the petite final and a 10th-place overall finish with a 7:49.77, adding about 13 seconds to the boat’s earlier heat time.
New Hampshire native Meghan O’Hern coaxed the varsity four from one of three heats into the petite final. Stroke seat Anastasiia Kolesnikova led her crew to a 7:32.41 finish, holding off Holy Cross by over 16 seconds, but failing to close the eight-second gap between UMass’ and Radcliffe’s boat.
In the petite final, the Minutewomen were placed in lane four, where they improved their heat time by a second, ending with a 7:31.91 time and a third-place finish, the highest placing of any UMass boat across the competition. Cornell pushed the Minutewomen to the end, coming in less than a second behind them at 7:32.57, while Northeastern left a seven-second gap ahead of UMass.
Sophomore Mia Bierowski coxed the third varsity eight in heat two to a 7:02.61, landing her crew in lane four of the petite final. The Minutewomen rallied with a 7:06.41, landing the boat in fifth place in its respective final and 11th place overall.
The fourth varsity eight had no heats and only had a final. The UMass boat, led by sophomore Dagny Sammis, placed third out of the four boats in the category with a 7:17.14, coming in 10 seconds behind Northeastern, and leaving Boston College behind by about 21 seconds.
As the Minutewomen conclude their inaugural season competing in the MAC, they have their sights set on the MAC Rowing Championships. There, they will battle for their ticket to the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships, searching for their first appearance in the national-level competition since 2014.
The MAC Championships will take place on Saturday, May 16, on Ford Lake in Ypsilanti, Mich. The races will be livestreamed on ESPN+. The start time is still to be determined.
Olivia Thibodeaux can be reached at [email protected].
The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Monday, May 4, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Powerball numbers from May 4 drawing
30-36-42-60-63, Powerball: 13, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from May 4 drawing
Day: 6-2-1
Evening: 3-3-9
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Winning Pick 4 numbers from May 4 drawing
Day: 7-9-1-8
Evening: 9-8-0-8
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Megabucks Plus numbers from May 4 drawing
01-05-33-34-41, Megaball: 05
Check Megabucks Plus payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Gimme 5 numbers from May 4 drawing
23-27-29-37-38
Check Gimme 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from May 4 drawing
08-17-22-34-39, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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