Two more people have been charged with murder in death of Sam Nordquist, a transgender Minnesota man who authorities say was tortured for more than a month before being killed in upstate New York.

New York State Police said they arrested Kimberly Sochia, 29, of Canandaigua, and Thomas Eaves, 21, of Geneva on Thursday and charged them with second-degree murder.

Authorities said Nordquist died following repeated acts of violence and torture for more than a month by multiple individuals who later discarded his body in a field. His body was found Feb. 13.

Last week, New York State Police charged five people with second-degree murder in the killing of Nordquist, 24, who had been missing since December after traveling to New York to meet up with someone he had met online.Petition calls for first degree charges

Nearly 10,000 people have signed a petition asking authorities to charge the people arrested so far with first-degree murder in connection with Nordquist’s death.

After authorities in New York said the killing was not a hate crime, the petition asks that authorities change that charge to first-degree murder and that violence against the transgender community have harsher consequences.

“Sam Nordquist’s life mattered, and his story deserves to be told and heard. His death needs to bring about a change, a call from all of us to reconsider and revise the legal penalties for hate crimes. As Sam’s friend and as a concerned US citizen, I implore you to seek justice for Sam and push for harsher penalties for hate crimes. Every signature on this petition sends a powerful message that such violence against the transgender community will not be tolerated,” said Jax X, who started the petition.

“Even though police say it’s ‘one of the most horrific crimes that they’ve ever seen in their entire careers’ they have NOT deemed it a hate crime and the 5 individuals that have been arrested are only facing second degree murder charges when they should be charged with FIRST DEGREE MURDER,” Jax X wrote.

“I want people to know that Sam was an amazing person, a great kid, brother, son and uncle,” his sister, Kayla Nordquist told the Pioneer Press on Friday in a message. “He could light up a room just walking in. Super goofy.”

What is known

Police said Nordquist arrived in New York in late September and was expected to return home about two weeks later, but he never boarded his return flight and later lost contact with loved ones.

Police began investigating his disappearance on Feb. 9 after receiving a request for a welfare check from his family, who told the authorities that they had lost contact with him at the end of January, the New York Times reported. Nordquist was a former student at Red Wing High School and previously lived in Oakdale, according to the Republican Eagle newspaper.

Those previously arrested include Precious Arzuaga, 38, and Patrick Goodwin, 30, of Canandaigua, N.Y.; Kyle Sage, 33, of Rochester, N.Y.; Jennifer Quijano, 30, of Geneva, N.Y.; and Emily Motyka, 19, of Lima, N.Y. All five were charged with second-degree murder after police searched a room at the Patty’s Lodge motel in Canandaigua, the last place Nordquist was known to be staying.

It was not clear if any of those charged have attorneys, the Associated Press reported Friday and earlier this week, adding there was no comment from the public defender’s office. AP reported earlier this week that a message was left seeking comment with the Ontario County public defender’s office.

Maj. Kevin Sucher, commander of the New York State Police troop that includes New York’s Finger Lakes region, said the facts and circumstances of the case were “beyond depraved” and “by far the worst” homicide investigation the office has ever been part of.

More than $143,000 has been raised for the family to live in New York as they navigate the circumstances around Sam’s death.

The family will be traveling back and forth from Minnesota to New York “for multiple court appearances as well as a possible 3-week-plus long trial. And that’s only if they do them all together. If they try these sick individuals separately, it could be longer,” his sister Kayla wrote on the GoFundMe page.

This report contains information from the Associated Press.