Sarah Boone has been found guilty of second-degree murder after her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, was found “stiff and purple” in a suitcase.
Boone, 47, of Winter Park, Florida, has been on trial following the death of her boyfriend in 2020.
During his sentencing, Boone remained impassive as Judge Kraynick read the guilty verdict. His defense attorney, James Owens, said outside court that Boone was “in shock.”
Sarah Boone, 47, has been found guilty of second-degree murder after the death of her boyfriend
Jorge Torres, 42, was found dead in 2020 after his girlfriend Boone put him inside a suitcase.
Before the trial, Boone had rejected a plea deal for 15 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
State Attorney Andrew Bain said: “This is a very horrific homicide…Justice was served today with the conviction of Sarah Boone.”
Boone had claimed that the couple had been playing a drunken game of hide-and-seek in which Torres voluntarily got into the suitcase.
On Tuesday, Boone testified: “I looked over and saw him settling into the suitcase. I zipped it up. We thought it was funny and joked that it was small enough to fit inside the suitcase.’
Boone told the court how she hit her boyfriend’s hand with a baseball bat to stop him from trying to get out and retract his hand.
Boone demonstrated the chilling way in which he had put his boyfriend in the suitcase.
Boone had taken two videos of Torres trapped inside the suitcase, in which he was thrashing around and can be heard screaming “I can’t breathe” as she laughed.
In the videos she can be heard saying: ‘Yes, that’s what you do when you strangle me… Oh, this is what I feel when you cheat on me… For everything you’ve fucking done to me.’ You’re stupid.’
Boone had claimed that she did not let him out because Torres had been trying to force her escape and that he was angry, expressing that she “was always afraid.”
She told the court: “His hand started coming out so I shook the suitcase to try and get it back in. I told him to please stop doing this to me.”
Boone then went upstairs to go to sleep before waking up the next morning to find Torres “stiff and purple” with blood coming out of his mouth.
It was later determined that Torres died as a result of positional asphyxiation.
During the 911 call to police, Boone was heard emotionlessly recounting what had happened.
When asked the nature of her emergency, she calmly responded: “My boyfriend is dead.”
She is expected to be sentenced on December 2.