Content warning: This article contains descriptions of prolonged physical and sexual abuse, torture and murder.

Two women responsible for the torture and murder of Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old Black transgender man from Minnesota, will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

On September 8, Ontario County Court Judge Kristina Karle sentenced Precious Arzuaga, 40, and Jennifer “Brooklyn” Quijano, 32, to life in prison without parole. Both women had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other crimes connected to Nordquist’s captivity and death in upstate New York.

The sentence alone does not communicate the severity of this case. To understand that, it is necessary to confront some of what prosecutors say Sam endured.

Sam Came to New York Expecting to Go Home

Nordquist traveled from Minnesota to New York in September 2024 after developing an online relationship with Arzuaga. He bought a round-trip ticket. His family expected him back. He never returned.

Precious Arzuaga, the ringleader in the murder of transgender man Sam Nordquist, listened in court as she is sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 8, 2026.

Authorities say Nordquist instead became trapped in prolonged captivity at a motel in Hopewell, near Canandaigua. What followed was not one violent confrontation but a sustained campaign of physical, psychological and sexual abuse involving multiple people.

When Sam’s family began losing contact with him, they became increasingly concerned. Eventually, he was reported missing. Investigators would later uncover what had been happening behind closed doors.

Prosecutors Say Sam Was Tortured for Weeks

The allegations revealed a level of cruelty that is difficult to comprehend.

Authorities said Nordquist was repeatedly punched, kicked and beaten with objects that included sticks, belts and electrical cords. He was allegedly sexually assaulted and restrained while his ability to leave was controlled.

Prosecutors said the humiliation went further.

Nordquist was allegedly forced to consume urine and feces. Authorities also described defendants forcing him to perform degrading acts while he was being held captive.

He was allegedly denied adequate food and medical treatment even as his physical condition worsened.

Investigators said the abuse occurred repeatedly over an extended period. It was not simply intended to injure him. According to prosecutors, much of it was designed to control, punish and humiliate him.

Then Sam Disappeared

By February 2025, Nordquist’s family was desperately searching for answers. New York State Police began investigating after receiving a welfare-check request.

On February 13, investigators found Sam’s remains in a field in Yates County. Authorities said his body had been moved there after his death in an effort to conceal what happened.

He was 24.

For months, his family had been waiting for him to come home. Instead, they learned that the person they loved had allegedly spent the final part of his life being controlled, degraded and tortured.

Prosecutors Called Arzuaga the Ringleader

Authorities identified Arzuaga as a central figure in the abuse.

She ultimately pleaded guilty to charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse, conspiracy, coercion, concealment of a human corpse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Jennifer Quijano (shown above) also pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and additional offenses connected to Nordquist’s captivity and abuse.

Judge Karle gave both women the maximum punishment for first-degree murder under New York law: life without the possibility of parole.

Arzuaga apologized to Nordquist’s family before receiving her sentence. But there are some things an apology cannot repair. And it cannot give Sam his life back.

Seven People Were Charged

Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of the Sam Nordquist murder is how many people authorities say were involved.

Seven defendants were ultimately charged in connection with the case. Other defendants have entered guilty pleas, while additional proceedings have continued.

That changes how this crime must be understood.

Authorities did not describe a sudden argument that became deadly. They described prolonged captivity and abuse involving a group of people. Every additional person allegedly involved raises the same haunting question:

Why didn’t someone stop it?

Sam was not hidden hundreds of miles from civilization. He was being held at a motel. People were around him. Yet prosecutors say his abuse continued until there was no longer a life left to save.

Was Sam Murdered Because He Was Transgender?

Because Nordquist was a Black transgender man, his death quickly became part of the national discussion surrounding violence against transgender Americans.

However, investigators have not established that anti-transgender hatred motivated his murder.

New York State Police previously said investigators did not find evidence supporting hate-crime charges. Authorities instead pointed to complicated personal relationships among the people involved.

Sam Was a Person Before He Was a Victim

There is a danger in telling stories like this.

The violence can become so shocking that it swallows the person.

Suddenly, Sam Nordquist becomes a collection of horrific details: the motel, the beatings, the humiliation, the field where investigators found him.

But none of those things tell us who Sam was.

His family remembers someone loving, compassionate and caring. He was a son, brother and friend. He was a young man who traveled to another state expecting to return home.

He had relationships.

He had plans.

Sam should have been allowed to grow older.

Life Without Parole Is Accountability, Not Restoration

Arzuaga and Quijano will never leave prison.

That is accountability.

It is not restoration.

A judge cannot sentence someone to give Sam back the months that were stolen from him. A courtroom cannot return him to his mother. A guilty plea cannot create the birthdays he will never celebrate.

Why DIN Is Following Sam’s Story

At DINMag.com, we are not going to sanitize what happened to Sam Nordquist. The brutality of this crime is part of the truth, and readers deserve to understand why prosecutors and his family fought for accountability.

But we also refuse to let torture become Sam’s identity.

Transgender people deserve journalism about their victories, relationships, careers, families and everyday lives not only stories written after someone kills them.

Subscribe to DIN for transgender news and LGBTQ+ reporting that tells the whole story, even when that story is difficult to read.

Remember what happened to Sam. But more importantly, remember Sam.