Children Ages 7 and 12 Forced to Participate In Torture of Murdered Trans Man Sam Nordquist: DA

Precious Arzuaga, 38, Jennifer Quijano, 30, Kyle Sage, 33, Patrick Goodwin, 30, Emily Motyka, 19, Kimberly L. Sochia, 29, Thomas Eaves, 19 are all facing charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, kidnapping, concealment of a corpse, conspiracy and endangering the welfare of a child.

Arzuaga, Sage, Goodwin and Quijano are also facing aggravated sexual abuse charges, while Arzuaga (top left) alone was charged with coercion.

While Nordquist is a Black, trans man, authorities have not accused his alleged killers of a hate crime. During a press conference on Wednesday, Ontario County Assistant District Attorney Kelly Wolford said, "a hate crime would make this charge about Sam's gender or about Sam's race, and it's so much bigger."

"Sam was beaten, assaulted, sexually abused, starved, held captive and we cannot make sense of that. We cannot put that on his gender, and we cannot put that on his race," said Wolford. "And I know many will ask the question: Why? Well, as I stand here today as a human being, we'll never know the answer why."

She said the first-degree murder charge also comes with the heaviest penalty possible under New York law.

Sam was officially reported missing by his family in early February, after he left Minnesota in September for New York to visit Arzuaga, who Sam met online and spoke with daily. His body was found discarded in a field in the Finger Lakes region of New York days after he was reported missing, with authorities reporting he was tortured for weeks before his death.

Details of the alleged torture were laid out more explicitly in the indictment, including the shocking claim two young children -- aged 7 and 12 -- were forced to participate. Wolford said that aspect of the alleged crime, which led to Arzuaga's coercion charge, was "one of the most troubling parts" of the investigation.

"It's heartbreaking. We have a 7-year-old and a 12-year-old who are also victims," she said. "They may have been forced to participate, but their lives are forever changed by what they saw and endured in there."

Arzuaga's relationship to the children is unclear.

The indictment also accuses the suspects of physically and sexually assaulting Nordquist, who was allegedly blocked from leaving a motel room between January 1, 2025 and February 2.

During that time, they allegedly hit, kicked and starved Nordquist, as well as allegedly forced him to ingest feces, urine and tobacco juice, while pouring bleach on him. Nordquist was allegedly duct taped, forced to face a wall and prevented him from using a phone or hydrate himself, per the indictment.

"They forced him to obey their commands, treating him like a dog," Wolford said. "They physically restrained him, treated him like a dog, covered his face with towels and fabric, used duct tape on him, and poured bleach on him."

Per Wolford, the suspects were all known to each other, some romantically. Wolford also said the indictment covers "just a portion" of what Nordquist allegedly went through, adding, "it's just what we know now."