The New York City Anti-Violence Project supports LGBTQ+ criminalized survivors.

Following a fatal incident in a Harlem Deli on January 2nd, Jaia Cruz, a 24-year -old transgender woman, pled not guilty to the indictment of second-degree murder on Thursday, January 23rd in a Manhattan courtroom.

The January 2nd incident between Ray Hodge, a 36-year-old postal worker, and Ms. Cruz, was initially reported as an altercation over a place in line that escalated and resulted in the stabbing death of Mr. Hodge. Subsequent testimony from Ms. Cruz and her lawyer disputes this claim, and although Ms. Cruz does not her action, Cruz and her lawyer claim self-defense due to prior interactions between Ms. Cruz and Mr. Hodge.

Following her identification, Ms. Cruz has experienced anti-trans harassment online and, in the media, with her physical attributes and gender identity being weaponized, attacked and invalidated.

The news of this incident comes at a time when transgender people, specifically women, are experiencing spikes in fatal and non-fatal hate violence in addition to politically motivated rhetoric and legislation that has reached new levels of danger just hours into the second Trump Administration.

Transgender women experience violence at a disproportionate rate to their cisgender peers. BIPOC trans women are at an even higher risk of experiencing violence than white trans women, with trans women of color accounting for 78% of fatal hate violence in 2024 and equally alarming, 56% of fatalities were Black trans women who only represent 13% of all trans Americans.

Prior to January's incident, Ms.Cruz, a native New Yorker, had regularly experienced hate violence and harassment in public throughout our city. Furthermore, in a video that circulated online in the summer of 2024, Ms. Cruz is seen being viciously attacked and beaten on the street in broad daylight.

Jaia stands accused of a terrible crime, but she also deserves safety and proper care while she is in custody.

We support LGBTQ+ people on their worst days and have compassion for survivors, victims, all their loved ones, and people who do harm.

The Anti-Violence Project calls for due process absent of misgendering, mocking, and dehumanization of Ms. Cruz, as her treatment displays flagrant cis-supremacy, misogynoir, and transmisogyny.

For more information about the case, visit the links below.