(Image via YouTube)

Volunteer Writer: Samantha McCarthy

Email: smccarthy12@umassd.edu

A game of hide-and-seek turned grim when 47-year-old Sarah Boone left her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, 42, inside of a zipped suitcase overnight, suffocating and killing him. 

Boone was convicted of second-degree murder in the last weeks of October, and her sentencing was announced this past week: life in prison. 

The jury came to a unanimous decision that Boone was guilty after a 10-day trial. She was offered a plea deal of 15 years if she pled guilty to manslaughter, but she turned down this offer. 

The couple had been drinking at their home in February 2020 when Torres decided to get inside a suitcase as they were allegedly playing a game of hide-and-seek. Boone proceeded to zip the suitcase shut and leave him inside against his cries for help. 

Boone said in her arrest report that she thought Torres would have been able to get out on his own, so she went to bed. The next morning, she woke up, realized he was nowhere to be found, and found him unresponsive inside of the suitcase. 

After calling 911, responders reported to the scene to find Torres lying near the front door of their home in Winter Park, a blue suitcase right next to him. 

Boone was brought in for questioning two days later. 

Two videos were recorded on Boone’s cell phone, which caused her to be charged with second-degree murder. In these videos, Torres is heard panicking and yelling that he can’t breathe, as Boone sits back, saying, “Yeah, that’s what you do when you choke me,” and later on, “That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me.”

You can watch a clip from the video here. Viewer discretion is advised. 

Autopsy reports revealed injuries on Torres’ back, head, and face. Boone later testified in court that she hit him with a baseball bat while he was inside the suitcase. 

The couple had a history of violence throughout their relationship. Past court documents were released showing they had both been arrested for battery against each other. In 2018, Boone was charged with battery by strangulation. 

Torres was charged with battery on three separate occasions in 2019, and his most recent arrest was this past September after Boone accused him of punching her in the ear. Boone bailed Torres out every time he was involved in legal trouble. 

Torres’ history of violence acted as the paramount argument throughout the trial, as the defense claimed she suffered from battered spouse syndrome. Regardless of her pleas, she was sentenced to life in prison. 

“Everyone suppose that this is one of the worst experiences of my life, and it’s actually been one of my greatest,” Boone said in her final remarks to the court. “If I were not beaten to death, I was going to work myself to death on the outside. And I never had time to get back into my Bible and to pray and to be with the Lord. And I, being here incarcerated, have had time […] to get closer to God to reacquaint myself to him.”

At the end of the trial, Boone stood before the court, telling the jury she was going to focus on forgiveness of her late boyfriend. 

“When you forgive, you heal, and when you heal, you move forward,” she said. “I forgive Jorge for beating me senseless,” she said, also stating that he had “slapped me, kicked, punched, spit on, raped, stabbed…”

“I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster,” Boone said. “No matter how grotesque he may become, I still loved him, hoped, and forgave,” were some of her final words to the courtroom.