Florida woman sentenced to life in prison for zipping boyfriend in suitcase for hours until he died
What did Sarah Boone do? The Florida woman was sentenced to life in prison for zipping her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., in a suitcase until he died.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida woman was sentenced to life in prison Monday after she was found guilty of second-degree murder for zipping her boyfriend in a suitcase, leaving him inside for hours until he died.
Sarah Boone, 47, was found guilty of second-degree murder in October. Prosecutors said she zipped her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., into a suitcase, recording video of herself taunting him before leaving him stuck inside overnight to suffocate and die.
Several of Torres’ family members spoke ahead of the sentencing about the impact of his death. 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’m waiting for him to come and say, ‘Mom, I love you,'” she said.
Torres’ sister, Victoria Torres, said Boone “has caused a lifetime of pain.”
One of his daughters, Ana Victoria Torres, said the death of her “incredible father” has left her with chronic depression and anxiety. In the first year after his death, she woke up “screaming every morning or night wishing I was having a nightmare, only to wake up and remember all over again that my father is gone,” she said.
Boone also took the stand before the sentencing and described being abused by Torres. During her trial, she and her defense team argued she suffered from “battered spouse syndrome” and she was afraid of Torres, CNN affiliate WESH reported.
She said Monday that Torres “kicked, punched, spit on, raped, stabbed, (and) choked” her, among other forms of abuse.
“I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster,” she said. “And no matter how grotesque he may become, I still loved him, hoped and forgave.”
In February 2020, the couple was drinking alcohol and playing a game of hide-and-seek, according to a news release from State Attorney Andrew Bain.
They thought “it would be funny” to hop in a suitcase as a part of the game, according to an arrest affidavit from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Boone said Torres voluntarily climbed into the suitcase and she zipped it closed, the news release says. She recorded herself “taunting” Torres as he asked to be let out and then went upstairs to sleep, according to the release.
She thought because two of his fingers stuck out from the suitcase, he would be able to open it, according to the affidavit.
When Boone woke up, she found Torres unresponsive in the suitcase and called 911, according to Bain.
Videos found on Boone’s phone that included Torres “frantically pleading to be released while Boone laughed and rebuffed him several times” were presented at trial, according to the news release from Bain’s office.
“In the videos she recorded, the victim could be heard telling the defendant he could not breathe and asking to be let out of the suitcase,” the release reads. “Boone responded with, ‘That’s what you get,’ ‘That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me’ and other taunts.”
“I can’t f**king breathe, seriously,” her boyfriend said in the phone video, according to the release.
The video shows Torres pushing on the suitcase and trying to get out, the affidavit said.
Boone testified in her own defense for around five hours, according to CNN affiliate WESH.
When asked by a prosecutor why she didn’t unzip the suitcase, she said, “I wanted him to try to understand how I felt so maybe he could 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, reported WESH. Torres’ family declined to speak with the media.
She filed a request for a new trial at the start of November, court documents show. The request cites alleged prosecutorial misconduct and other complaints about the trial.
Judge Michael Kraynick denied the request before the sentencing, citing “the court’s review of the record, the court’s participation in the trial and review of all the evidence of the court’s prior findings and rulings at trial.”
Woman found guilty of first-degree murder in 2022 killing of romantic rival in Tamarac
Sakiyna Thompson, 31, was convicted in the July 2022 killing of 23-year-old Kayla Hodgson.
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A jury found a woman guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of her romantic rival back in 2022 in Tamarac. NBC6’s Niko Clemmons reports
A jury on Tuesday found a woman guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of her romantic rival back in 2022 in Tamarac.
Sakiyna Thompson, 31, was convicted in the July 2022 killing of 23-year-old Kayla Hodgson. She could face life in prison.
Hodgson’s family cried tears of joy over the verdict and hugged each other in the courtroom.
“We’re just so thankful in this moment that the jury was able to see the story for what it is, that Kayla did not deserve to die the way that she did,” family members said.
Prosecutors accused her of flying to South Florida from New York days before the murder with the intent of killing Hodgson. They said Thompson was jealous that Hodgson was dating Thompson’s ex-boyfriend.
During the trial, jurors heard four hours of closing arguments that were centered on whether Thompson planned to kill Hodgson or whether Thompson acted in self-defense.
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In July of 2022, prosecutors argued that Thompson surprised Hodgson at her Tamarac apartment at 5 a.m., confronted her about the two women dating the same man, and then stabbed her to death.
“Being violated in your own home, in the sanctity of your own home, is a scary thing,” said Tonya Johnson, an assistant state prosecutor. “What’s even scarier is being attacked, being brutally murdered in your own home, and that person getting away with it.”
Defense attorneys insisted Thompson didn’t start the fight and said Hodgson struck Thompson over the head and cut her stomach. They said the killing was unfortunate, but it was only Thompson’s attempts to save her own life and the life of her unborn child.
“She thought, ‘Oh, God, she’s coming for me and my baby,'” said Ros Meritxell, a defense attorney. “That’s when she grabs the glass, and she blacks out. She knows she slashed, she’s not saying she didn’t cause that, she can’t tell you the order that it happened in. This was a fight, a mutual fight.”
The state said Thompson tried to conceal her identity that night by coming to the apartment in a hat and a COVID-19 mask, and used a fake Uber account to get there and back to her hotel.
The defense countered that there’s no evidence Thompson brought a weapon, and that Hodgson let her into her home.
