Sarah Boone sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Jorge Torres

A Florida woman who said she was playing with her boyfriend when she put him in a suitcase and left him to die has been sentenced to life in prison.

After a 10-day jury trial in October, an Orange County jury convicted Sarah Boone, 47, of second-degree murder for the killing of her boyfriend. Jorge Torres Jr., 42 years old.

On Monday, prosecutors confirmed, Boone received the maximum sentence for the charge he faced when District Court Judge Michael Kraynick Florida Ninth Judicial Circuit Court He handed down the sentence in an Orlando court.

Boone, of Winter Park, told police the couple was drinking the night of Feb. 23, 2020, when Torres entered the suitcase to play hide and seekand they were joking when she zipped it up, as USA TODAY previously reported.

After arguing, she went upstairs and went to sleep believing he might go out alone, she told police, according to a criminal complaint. When she got up the next morning, she discovered that he was still inside the suitcase and had died. she then called 911.

“A thing as simple as a suitcase is so stimulating”

Before she was sentenced, video from inside the courtroom captured by Fox 35 Orlando shows the victim’s family addressing the judge, saying Boone “caused a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of horrific images.”

“When I look out the window I’m waiting for him to come and say, ‘Mom, I love you,'” the victim’s mother said. Blanca Torres she said through tears Monday.

“A thing as simple as a suitcase is so triggering… I try not to close it completely,” one of Torres’ sisters told the court, asking for justice for her brother.

Court documents obtained by USA TODAY show that Boone’s attorney, James Owens, filed a motion before the sentencing hearing asking for less than the minimum punishment, saying she showed remorse and acted under “extreme duress,” which Boone addressed when he went up to the stand on Monday.

Boone testified that his actions were a result of Torres’ alleged physical and mental abuse.

“Every time he slapped me, kicked me, spit on me, raped me, stabbed me… spanked me, tripped me, robbed me, lied to me, terrorized me, threatened me… every time he tried to take me down,” Boone said. “Forgive me Jorge, forgive me Torres family.”

I zipped it up. “We thought it was fun.”

Prosecutors said Boone knew couldn’t get out of the suitcase on his own and caused his death.

“I zipped it up. We thought it was funny and joked about it being small enough to fit inside the suitcase,” Boone told jurors. “We laughed about it.”

During his trial, Boone said he began filming with his cell phone and decided to have a conversation with Torres while he was confined in the suitcase so he could express his feelings. Torres had abused her in the past, she claimed.

The approximately two-minute video was shown in the courtroom. In the video, Torres repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe and Boone can be heard laughing.

“That’s what you do when you strangle me,” Boone replied, what prosecutors called mockery.

“That’s up to you,” Torres responded again when he said he couldn’t breathe inside the suitcase.

Boone left Torres in the suitcase overnight

After she stopped filming, Boone said she and Torres argued while he was still inside the suitcase and things got heated. Torres threatened her, Boone said. She said she was afraid he would escape from the suitcase and was able to get his hand out. She said in court that she was afraid 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 in.

Torres had bruises on her hand and contusions on her skull along with a “broken” lip during her autopsy, according to the criminal complaint against Boone and court testimony.

Boone told the jury that he did not believe he could die in the suitcase and that he was not trying to kill him. She said when she woke up the next morning, she searched the entire apartment for him before looking for him and finding him still in the suitcase.

Her attorney previously told USA TODAY that she and the defense team were “disappointed” by the verdict, but respected the jury’s decision.

Court records show Boone has 30 days to file an appeal.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund. Jeanine Santucci is a national news reporter at USA TODAY.