In a courtroom filled with grief and outrage, a New York state judge handed down maximum sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole to two women who orchestrated the prolonged kidnapping, torture, and murder of Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old Black transgender man from Oakdale, Minnesota.
Ontario County Court Judge Kristina Karle sentenced 40-year-old Precious Arzuaga, identified by prosecutors as the ringleader of the attack, alongside her ex-girlfriend, 32-year-old Jennifer “Brooklyn” Quijano, following their guilty pleas to first-degree murder, kidnapping, and aggravated sexual abuse. In addition to their life sentences, both women were ordered to register as sex offenders. Judge Karle also issued protection orders permanently barring Arzuaga from contacting her two children, aged 7 and 12 at the time, who lived in the motel room where the abuse occurred and were forced to participate in the violence.
Before delivering the sentence, Judge Karle directly addressed Arzuaga, voicing the horrific nature of the crime. “We all want to know why someone so good was taken so tragically,” Karle says in court. “Was it because Sam was everything you were not, and will never be? Did you look at him and hate him because of that kindness, compassion, empathy, hope?”
According to court proceedings and police reports, Nordquist traveled from Minnesota to upstate New York in September 2024 to meet Arzuaga, whom he had met online and believed to be a romantic partner. Kayla Nordquist, Sam’s sister, gave emotional testimony describing her brother’s hopes before traveling east. “He wanted to build a life with someone who loved him for exactly who he was,” Kayla testifies during the hearing. “Sam believed he had found that future.”
Instead of the home he sought, Nordquist was held captive from early January through early February 2025 in a room at Patty’s Lodge in Hopewell, New York. Investigators revealed that over the course of a month, Nordquist endured relentless physical and sexual abuse, starvation, and degradation before succumbing to his injuries on February 2, 2025. His body was later transported and abandoned in a field in neighboring Yates County, roughly 50 miles away, in an effort to hide the crime.
Arzuaga expressed brief remorse during her statement, saying, “I want to say I’m sorry for what happened to Sam. I can’t take back what happened, although I wish I could. Sam really did love me and my kids.”
Ontario County District Attorney James Ritts previously characterized the case as “by far the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been part of.” A total of seven individuals were charged in connection with Nordquist’s death, including Arzuaga’s 22-year-old son, Thomas Eaves. Two co-defendants, Emily Motyka and Kyle Sage, have also pleaded guilty to murder and kidnapping charges, while Eaves, Patrick Goodwin, and Kimberly Sochia await trial scheduled to begin in January.
