Man sentenced for torturing sex workers, killing woman, and keeping her dismembered body in freezer

NEW YORK (TCD) -- A man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for coercing multiple victims into prostitution, torturing them, and fatally beating a 32-year-old sex worker before dismembering her body.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York announced April 5 that a judge sentenced Somorie Moses, who also goes by "Somorie Barfield," "Sugar Bear," "Bear," and "Daddy," to 10 terms of life in prison to run concurrently for sex trafficking eight women and for the murder of one of his victims, Leondra Foster. Moses pleaded guilty to the crimes in September 2023.

According to prosecutors, since 2003, Moses "lured women and girls with false promises of love." Moses would then threaten his victims, as well as rape, beat, torture, and psychologically manipulate the women and girls into sex work in Brooklyn and Queens. Moses reportedly collected all of his victims’ earnings, kept the money, and made many of the women and girls tattoo his first name onto their bodies.

According to the attorney’s office, Moses threw Jane Doe No. 1 off a roof and raped her. He also reportedly "bit off a piece of her buttocks," and then he spat it out at her. Moses slashed the arms and back of another woman using a razor. He also beat her with a belt before dousing the wounds in lemon juice, causing severe scarring, the attorney’s office said.

Another victim, identified as Jane Doe No. 6, reportedly failed to give Moses the money he demanded, so the defendant beat her with an extension cord. As a result, the attorney’s office said Jane Doe No. 6 sustained multiple open, bleeding cuts.

In a similar instance, the attorney’s office said Jane Doe No. 7 informed Moses she did not want to be a sex worker, and the defendant threatened to kill her and her child, placing a shotgun in her mouth.

Moses fatally beat Foster, one of his sex trafficking victims, on the morning of Jan. 13, 2017. Foster sustained bruises and abrasions all over her torso, as well as five blunt force injuries to her head.

According to the attorney’s office, Moses likely hit her head directly or slammed her head into a surface. Foster reportedly died from a fatal blow to the back of her head but was likely alive for the other injuries. Prosecutors said she suffered a seizure and died moments later.

The morning after Foster’s beating death, Moses dismembered her body inside their Brooklyn apartment using a knife and saw. He reportedly concealed the dismembered body and brought another woman to the apartment to engage in a sexual act. According to the attorney’s office, the woman later told officials there was a strong odor of bleach coming from the inside of the apartment.

Several days later, Moses brought Foster’s torso, legs, and arms to a garbage transfer station in the Bronx to dispose of the body parts. Afterward, Moses reportedly texted one of his victims and said he was on his way back and that he "just did 110 over the Brooklyn Bridge."

According to prosecutors, investigators recovered Foster’s head, hands, and feet in Moses' freezer. A foot in the freezer reportedly had Moses' first name tattooed on it.

United States Attorney Breon Peace said, "A lengthy prison sentence cannot undo the extreme and lasting harm Moses has inflicted on his victims, but incarceration will prevent this killer who clearly has no respect for human life from victimizing others."

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