A woman accused of leading the brutal abuse and killing of a transgender man at an upstate New York motel received the harshest sentence allowed Tuesday, prompting an emotional reaction from people gathered inside the courtroom.
Precious Arzuaga and her former girlfriend, Jennifer Quijano, were both sentenced to life behind bars without the chance of parole for their involvement in the month-long torture and murder of Sam Nordquist in 2025.
As Ontario County Judge Kristina Karle delivered the maximum penalty, members of the gallery applauded the decision, while one spectator shouted, “F–k you. You’re the devil,” according to the Times Union.
Arzuaga, who admitted guilt to first-degree murder in July, mostly stared downward during the proceeding. As deputies led her from the courtroom, she briefly raised her head to blow a kiss toward her mother.
“We all want to know why,” Karle said from the bench. “Why was someone so good taken so tragically? Was it because Sam was everything you were not and will never be?
Nordquist, a 24-year-old transgender man, was discovered dead in a field in Yates County on Feb. 13, 2025.
Originally from Minnesota, Nordquist had been living with Arzuaga at Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, about a half-hour from Rochester, after traveling to New York in September 2024.
Authorities said Arzuaga brought Nordquist to the area with the promise of romance, but the relationship instead became a prolonged ordeal of abuse that lasted from Jan. 1, 2025, to Feb. 2, 2025.
“Sadly and tragically, he found you. And you represent everything opposite of Sam,” Karle said.
The devious woman led a group of six others, including Quijano and two children — one of whom was her son — to beat, torture and sexually assault Nordquist inside the motel room.
Nordquist was punched, kicked, beaten with sticks, dog toys, ropes canes and belts — and assaulted with a table leg and broomstick in the weeks leading to his death.
He died of repeated acts of violence and torture, authorities ruled.
Nordquist was reported missing by family members on Feb. 9, after he lost contact with them.
He was found dumped in the field in Yates County wrapped in plastic several days later.
For the grueling month, Nordquist was held captive inside and caged like a dog in a cynical crime prosecutors compared to a Hollywood horror film.
“This is the worst of the worst,” Ontario County First Assistant District Attorney James Nobles said. “It may be common on television or in the movies, but not in real life.”
Nordquist’s mother and sister spoke before Arzuaga was sentenced.
“Sam had the gentlest heart of anyone I’ve ever known,” his mother Linda said. “He saw the good in people. Even when they did not deserve it.”
Prosecutors didn’t disclose a motive for Arzuaga’s actions but revealed chilling text messages she had sent before Nordquist’s murder.
“Sam can never leave New York alive,” one message from Arzuaga read, as attorneys characterized it as “torture for torture sake,” WHAM reported.
Both Arzuaga and Quijano pleaded guilty in July to all charges they faced, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, aggravated sexual abuse, concealment of a human corpse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Quijano’s involvement in Nordquist’s torture and murder was motivated by jealousy after Arzuaga’s attention was no longer focused on her, prosecutors said.
“It’s just that Sam had Precious’s attention and she hated him for it,” Assistant District Attorney Sara Van Strydonck said. “So you want to know the motive? The motive is jealousy.”
Emily Motyka and Kyle Sage both pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree kidnapping for their roles in Nordquist’s death. They are awaiting sentencing.
The three remaining defendants — including Patrick Goodwin and Thomas Eaves — are scheduled to go to trial in January.
