Alvin Bragg’s office cuts soft plea deal for transgender knife-wielding murderer

A man who fatally stabbed a father for allegedly insulting his “gender identity” was reportedly sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday as part of a plea deal with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.

Jaia Cruz, 24, was locked away for first-degree manslaughter after killing Ray Hodges, 36, at a Harlem deli in January, the New York Post reported. Bragg’s assistant district attorney, Elizabeth Clerkin, led the case against Cruz, whose lawyer reportedly said the victim uttered a “slur” about Cruz’s “gender identity” before Cruz stabbed him to death.

“When people like this are allowed plea bargains, you get broken families, you get us,” the mother of Hodges’ children said in the courtroom, according to the New York Post, which did not name her. “I’m not happy with fifteen years.”

The woman called Cruz “a disgusting excuse for a human being,” and Hodges’ loved ones reportedly started chanting in the courtroom that Cruz is a “boy” after the sentence came down.

The New York County Defender Services, which gave legal representation to Cruz, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. Bragg’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said Cruz cut in front of Hodges in the deli line, beginning an argument that led to the stabbing, and said Hodges “deserved it” immediately after he fell to the ground from his wounds, the New York Post reported. Hodges was a postal worker and left behind two children, according to the outlet.

Bragg put himself in the national spotlight in April 2023 by filing the first-ever criminal indictment against a former president, Donald Trump. Bragg’s case and the subsequent conviction on 34 counts for falsifying business records was widely criticized as a politicization of the justice system. A judge sentenced Trump to unconditional discharge in January, days before he returned to the White House.

Conservatives have also called Bragg “soft” on everyday crime in his district, citing plummeting conviction rates for felonies and misdemeanors since he took office in 2022.

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