Suitcase murder trial: Sarah Boone sentenced to life in prison for stashing her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr. in a suitcase until his death

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida woman was sentenced to life in prison Monday after being found guilty of second-degree murder for hiding her boyfriend in a suitcase and leaving him inside for hours until he died.

Sarah Boone, 47, was found guilty of second-degree murder in October. Prosecutors said she put her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., in a suitcase and recorded a video of herself taunting him before leaving him stuck inside overnight, where he suffocated and died.

Several of Torres’ family members spoke about the impact of his death before the sentencing. In a tearful statement, his mother, Blanca Torres, said Boone “not only killed my son, she killed a father, a brother, an uncle.”

“Sometimes when I look out the window, I wait for him to come and say, ‘Mom, I love you,'” she said.

Torres’ sister, Victoria Torres, said Boone “caused a lifetime of pain.”

One of his daughters, Ana Victoria Torres, said the death of her “incredible father” left her with chronic depression and anxiety. For the first year after his death, she “woke up every morning or night screaming and wishing I was having a nightmare, only to wake up and remember that my father was gone,” she said.

Boone also took the stand before sentencing and described how he had been mistreated by Torres. During her trial, she and her defense team argued that she suffered from “battered spouse syndrome” and was afraid of Torres, CNN affiliate WESH reported.

She said Monday that Torres “kicked, punched, spit on, raped, stabbed and choked” her, among other things.

“I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster,” she said. “And no matter how grotesque he became, I still loved him, hoped for him, and forgave him.”

According to a press release from prosecutor Andrew Bain, the couple drank alcohol and played a game of hide-and-seek in February 2020.

According to an affidavit from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, they thought “it would be fun” to jump into a suitcase as part of the game.

Boone said Torres voluntarily climbed into the suitcase and zipped it up, the release said. She filmed herself “mocking” Torres as he asked to be let out and then going upstairs to sleep, the release said.

She thought because two of his fingers were sticking out of the suitcase he could open it, the affidavit says.

When Boone woke up, she found Torres lifeless in the suitcase and called 911, according to Bain.

Videos found on Boone’s phone in which Torres “frantically pleaded for his release while Boone laughed and rebuffed him multiple times” were presented in court, according to the news release from Bain’s office.

“In the videos she recorded, the victim could be heard telling the defendant he couldn’t breathe and asking to be let out of the suitcase,” the release said. “Boone responded with, ‘This is what you get,’ ‘This is how I feel when you cheat on me,’ and other taunts.”

“I can’t fucking breathe, seriously,” her boyfriend said in the phone video, according to the press release.

In the video, Torres could be seen squeezing the suitcase and trying to get out, the affidavit said.

According to CNN affiliate WESH, Boone testified in her own defense for about five hours.

When asked by a prosecutor why she didn’t open the suitcase, she said, “I wanted him to try to understand how I felt so that maybe he could make progress and be a better person,” according to WESH.

Boone’s attorney said his client was “shocked” and her team was “very disappointed” after she was convicted, WESH reported. Torres’ family declined to speak to the media.

She filed a motion for a new trial in early November, court documents show. The request cites alleged prosecutorial misconduct and other complaints about the process.

Judge Michael Kraynick denied the motion before sentencing, citing “the Court’s review of the record, the Court’s participation in the trial, and the review of all evidence of the Court’s prior findings and rulings at the trial.”

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