A Florida woman who said she was playing a game with her boyfriend when she zipped him up in a suitcase and left him to die has been sentenced to life in prison.
Following a 10-day jury trial in October, an Orange County jury convicted Sarah Boone, 47, of second-degree murder in the killing of her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr., 42.
On Monday, prosecutors confirmed, Boone received the maximum penalty for the charge she faced when Judge Michael Kraynick of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida handed down the sentence inside an Orlando courtroom.
Boone, of Winter Park, told police the couple was drinking the night of Feb. 23, 2020, when Torres got inside the suitcase to play a game of hide-and-seek, and they were joking when she zipped it up, as USA TODAY previously reported.
After arguing, she went upstairs and went to sleep believing that he could get himself out, she told police, per a criminal complaint. When she got up the next morning, she discovered he was still inside the suitcase and had died. She then called 911.
‘Such a simple thing as a suitcase, it’s so triggering’
Prior to being sentenced, video from inside the courtroom captured by Fox 35 Orlando shows the victim’s family address the judge, saying Boone “caused a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of horrible images.”
“When I look out the window I’m waiting for him to come, and say, ‘Mom, I love you,'” the victim’s mother Blanca Torres said through tears Monday.
“Such a simple thing as a suitcase, it’s so triggering… I try not to close it all the way,” one of Torres’ sisters told the court, pleading with the for justice for her brother.
Court documents obtained by USA TODAY show Boone’s attorney James Owens filed a motion ahead of the sentencing hearing asking for less than the minimum punishment saying she showed remorse, and acted under “extreme duress” which Boone addressed when she took the stand Monday.
Boone testified her actions were the result of Torres’ alleged physical and mental abuse.
“Every time he slapped me, kicked punched spit on, raped, stabbed… whipped, tripped, stole from, lied, terrorized, threatened…every time he tried to end me,” Boone said. “Forgive me Jorge, Forgive me Torres family.”
‘I zipped him up. We thought it was funny.’
Prosecutors said Boone knew he could not get out of the suitcase on his own and caused his death.
“I zipped him up. We thought it was funny and were joking about how he was small enough to fit inside of the suitcase,” Boone told jurors. “We were laughing about it.”
During her trial Boone said she started filming on her cellphone and decided to have a conversation with Torres while he was confined in the suitcase so she could express her feelings. Torres had abused her in the past, she alleged.
The approximately two-minute video was shown in the courtroom. In the video, Torres said repeatedly that he couldn’t breathe, and Boone can be heard laughing.
“That’s what you do when you choke me,” Boone responded, what prosecutors called taunting.
“That’s on you,” she responded another time Torres said he couldn’t breathe from within the suitcase.
Boone left Torres in suitcase overnight
After she stopped filming, Boone said that she and Torres argued while he was still inside the suitcase, and things got heated. Torres threatened her, Boone said. She said she feared he was going to break out of the suitcase, and he was able to get his hand out. She said in court she feared he would hurt her if he got out of the suitcase and that he was angry. She grabbed a baseball bat and hit his hand to get it back inside.
Torres had bruising on his hand and contusions to his skull along with a “busted” lip during his autopsy, according to the criminal complaint against Boone and testimony in court.
Boone told jurors she didn’t believe he could die in the suitcase and was not trying to kill him. She said when she woke up the next morning, she looked for him all throughout the apartment before looking and finding him still in the suitcase.
Her attorney previously told USA TODAY she and the defense team were “disappointed” in the verdict, but respected the jury’s decision.
Court records show Boone has 30 days to file an appeal.
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