We Remember 2025
We Remember is a memorial to Minnesota’s victims of intimate partner homicide. Each of these victims is someone’s child, parent, sibling, family member, intimate partner, friend, neighbor, or co-worker.
Kristi Joy Gardner
Age 57
Lake Crystal
January 9, 2025
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Kristi Joy Gardner, 57, died from multiple gunshot wounds in a home in Lake Crystal on January 9, 2025. Police were alerted by a 911 caller who stated they had found her unresponsive in the home. Police then determined that Kristi had been in a relationship with Gary Rodewald, 64, and went to find Rodewald. They found him unresponsive in his garage in New Ulm as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to a hospital in Minneapolis where he died of his injuries on January 11, 2025. Police stated that they were investigating Kristi’s death as a murder-suicide, and the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office determined her death was a homicide.
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Rodewald had several convictions for violating Harassment Restraining Orders and Orders for Protection dating as far back as 2000, though it is unclear against whom.
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Kristi was a nurse at the Mankato Clinic for nearly three decades, and was described as “an awesome nurse and kind friend” and “a wonderful person” who enjoyed cooking, gardening, and puzzles. She leaves behind five children.
Sam Nordquist
Age 24
From Oakdale, Minnesota; Sam died in New York
February 13, 2025
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Sam was described as “a friend without limits,” “a giving person, a loving person,” “full of life,” and a “beautiful human being.” Loved ones shared that he loved TikTok, puma sweatshirts, cooking, and trick-or-treating with his sister’s children.
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Sam Nordquist, 24, was killed on or around February 13, 2025 after prolonged physical and psychological abuse and torture from the following seven people. Precious Arzuaga, 38; Jennifer Quijano, 30; Kyle Sage, 33; Patrick Goodwin, 30; Emily Motyka, 19; Kimberly Sochia, 29; and Thomas Eaves, 21, are all charged with first-degree murder.
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Sam, a Black trans man from Minnesota, traveled to New York from Oakdale, MN in September 2024. His family stated he traveled to New York to meet his girlfriend, Precious Arzuaga, whom he had met online. Sam’s family gradually lost contact with him, and the few phone calls they did have often had Arzuaga present. On December 4, 2024, Sam’s family was notified by social services that Sam had gone to their offices and expressed that Arzuaga was controlling his cell phone use, and that he wanted to come home and was trying to come up with an "escape plan.” He never showed up for a December 19 appointment, and his family last heard from him on January 31, 2025. His family’s requests for welfare checks led to the eventual discovery of Sam’s body in a field in New York on February 13, 2025.
We remember Sam Nordquist.
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Sefiya Churiso Datu
Age 29
St. Paul
February 26, 2025
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Sefiya Churiso Datu, 29, was stabbed to death in St. Paul on February 26, 2025. Sefiya’s husband, Kedu Husen Buseri, 34, is charged with second-degree murder. On the afternoon of February 26, Buseri called 911 and said someone had killed his wife. When officers arrived they found Buseri covered in blood and Sefiya wrapped in a blanket with a knife near her head. A baby was found on a nearby bed but was physically unharmed. Another woman was also present but was not injured. Sefiya was taken to the hospital and died shortly afterward.
Buseri told police he and Sefiya had an argument and he slapped her, then began cutting her. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Sefiya died as a result of multiple sharp force injuries, including a large cut across her throat, cuts on her face, and a cut on her bicep.
We remember Sefiya Churiso Datu.
Janet Vercruysse
Age 36
Waite Park
April 12, 2025
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Janet Vercruysse, 36, was shot and killed inside a home in Waite Park on April 12, 2025 by her boyfriend De’Mico Elyea-Goss, 29, who then shot and killed himself. On the afternoon of April 12, police were across the street on a separate call and heard gunshots from the home. A 5-year-old child and an 8-year-old child, both Janet’s children, ran out of the home and alerted police to the murder-suicide. When police entered, they found Janet and Elyea-Goss deceased. Multiple firearms were also found inside.
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Janet was described as a “caring and adventurous” person who was generous and friendly and loved spending time with her family and three cats. Loved ones said she had a “contagious laugh” and loved dressing up in her favorite colors of pink, leopard print, and purple. Janet worked at a nursing home and was fondly remembered by coworkers. Janet Vercruysse leaves behind two young children.
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Hulda Bochere Mosiori
Age 42
Ramsey
April 22, 2025
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Hulda Bochere Mosiori, 42, was killed by her former partner Mel Melchizedek, 51, on April 22, 2025 in Ramsey, Minnesota. Melchizedek then killed himself. On the morning of April 22, police received a call indicating that Melchizedek confronted a neighbor with a gun before returning to a home nearby. A shelter-in-place order was issued for the surrounding area. Police eventually managed to enter the home, where they found Hulda and Melchizedek deceased. An official determination of the cause(s) of both deaths has not yet been released.
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Hulda was a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Maple Grove who was described by loved ones as “the nicest person” and the “biggest supporter, role model and provider.” Hulda Bochere Mosiori leaves behind four children.
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Christine "Chrissy" Morris
Age 33
St. Paul
May 2, 2025
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Christine “Chrissy” Morris, 33, was stabbed to death in St. Paul on or around May 2, 2025. Her boyfriend Joseph Davis, 34, is charged with second-degree murder. Early on the morning of May 2, police were called to a welfare check at the home Christine and Davis shared, where they pronounced Christine dead at the scene. Their two-year-old daughter was found physically unharmed.
Before police arrived, Davis had called a family member and a previous partner and told both of them that he had killed Christine. The previous partner told police she had feared he would kill her (the partner) or someone else at some point.
Davis has a history of violence against Christine. He was sentenced in May 2023 and January 2024 for gross misdemeanor domestic assault against her, and had also violated a no contact order prohibiting him from contacting Christine. Davis also has a prior domestic assault conviction in 2018 for abusing another woman he was in a relationship with. In September 2024, Christine told a friend that if she or her daughter ended up dead or went missing, Davis would be the person responsible.
Christine “Chrissy” Morris was described by loved ones as “a beautiful soul who touched many lives with her love, strength, and smile.” She ran her own catering business for Jamaican food, and also worked as a realtor. Multiple people described her as their best friend. She leaves behind a two-year-old daughter.
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Danielle Grace Warren
Age 32
Burnsville
May 7, 2025
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Danielle Grace Warren, 32, was stabbed to death on May 7, 2025 in her home in Burnsville. She was stabbed nine times in the neck, torso, and head while several children were in the home. Her boyfriend Jason Filas, 48, is charged with second-degree intentional murder. Police were called to the home on the morning of May 7, where they found Danielle deceased inside. Filas was later arrested in Lakeville.
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Earlier this year, a no-contact order was issued prohibiting Filas from contacting Danielle after a March 13 assault in which he grabbed her by the hair, pulled her head down, and took her cellphone. In the court filing for the no-contact order, Danielle noted she was afraid of Filas and was concerned he would hurt her. Police found him in violation of the order on April 2 while in a car with Danielle. Filas was set to be sentenced for that violation on July 9. Though it is unknown why, a judge vacated the no-contact order on April 23.
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Loved ones said that Danielle “did anything in the world” for her children, had a great sense of humor, and will be deeply missed. Danielle Grace Warren leaves behind three young children, including an infant.
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