Two more suspects have been arrested in the brutal killing of Sam Nordquist, a 24-year-old transgender man who died in upstate New York after enduring more than two months of torture and abuse, authorities said Friday.
The two New York residents, 29-year-old Kimberly L. Sochia, and 21-year-old Thomas G. Eaves, were taken into custody Thursday night by officers with the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Canandaigua.
Sochia, of Canandaigua, was arrested just before 6 p.m., state troopers said. Eaves, of Geneva, was arrested at approximately 10 p.m.
New York State Police via AP
This undated photo provided by the New York State Police shows Sam Nordquist. Nordquist, a 24-year-old missing transgender man, died after enduring prolonged physical and psychological abuse over a month by multiple individuals who later discarded his body in a field, in Canandaigua, N.Y., according to New York State Police. (New York State Police via AP)
They were both charged with second-degree murder with “depraved indifference” and are currently being held at Ontario County Jail awaiting their arraignment.
Five other suspects, all New York State residents, were arrested last week and charged with second-degree murder in connection to the gruesome crime.
Those include 38-year-old Precious Arzuaga and 30-year-old Patrick Goodwin, both from Canandaigua; 33-year-old Kyle Sage of Rochester; 30-year-old Jennifer Quijano of Geneva; and 19-year-old Emily Motyka of Lima.
Nordquist, of Oakdale, Minn., had traveled to upstate New York in late September 2024 and was expected to return home about two weeks later. However, he never boarded his return flight and lost contact with loved ones, prompting his family to request a welfare check from the NYSP Office in Canandaigua.
Last week, investigators said Nordquist’s body had been located in a field in Canandaigua, in what Ontario County District Attorney Jim Ritz described as “by far the worst homicide investigation that our office has ever been a part of.”
An investigation revealed “a deeply disturbing pattern of abuse that ultimately resulted in Sam’s tragic death,” NYSP Captain Kelly Swift said at a press conference when announcing last week’s arrests. Investigators determined Nordquist “endured prolonged physical and psychological abuse at the hand of multiple individuals,” she noted.
On Sunday, the Ontario County District Attorney’s Office said there was no evidence to suggest the murder had been a hate crime, saying Nordquist and his assailants “were known to each other [and] identified as LGBTQ+” — an announcement that angered many in the LGBTQ+ community.
“[Authorities] have NOT deemed [Nordquist’s killing] a hate crime and the 5 individuals that have been arrested are only facing second-degree murder charges,” an online petition shared on change.org earlier this week read in part. The petition demanding harsher sentencing for those involved in this “act of heinous violence” has gathered nearly 9,500 signatures as of Friday morning.
“This type of violence and hatred is not natural or accidental,” Sean Ebony Coleman, a New York City-based Black trans nonprofit founder, told the Daily News. “It is deliberately fueled and legitimized by our society and by the people in power who lead the public discourse,” he added.
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