Sarah Boone rang 911 after finding her partner's body. Pic: AP
Life imprisonment. That was the sentence imposed against Sarah Boone, a 47-year-old woman from California, United States, who was found guilty of second-degree murder for locking her boyfriend in a suitcase, leaving him inside for hours until his death.
The sentence was handed down yesterday, Monday, Dec. 2: As reconstructed by prosecutors, the crime occurred in 2020 at the couple's home in Winter Park, Florida. The woman locked her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr. in a suitcase, then recorded a video as she provoked him, before leaving him there overnight. In the footage taken with a cell phone, the 47-year-old can be heard laughing as her partner calls for help. "I can't breathe," pleads the 42-year-old, who tries to move in an attempt to free himself. A prank then ended in the worst way, with the man's death by suffocation.
“He didn't just kill my son, he killed a father, a brother, an uncle,” the victim's mother, Blanca Torres, said before the sentencing. "Sometimes, when I look out the window, I wait for him to come and tell me, Mom, I love you. “ Boone caused us a lifetime of pain,” added the man's sister, while one of the daughters, Ana Victoria, recounted having nightmares for more than a year thinking about her father's death. Sarah Boone, who took the stand before the sentencing, recounted being abused and violated by her partner: kicks, punches and rape episodes. During the trial she and her defense team argued that she suffered from “battered spouse syndrome” and was afraid of Torres. An argument that did not convince the judges. According to an account by District Attorney Andrew Bain dating back to February 2020, the couple was drinking alcohol and playing hide-and-seek on the day of the tragedy.
According to an affidavit released by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the two thought "it would be funny." So Torres went into the suitcase and Boone zipped it up, taunted him, and then went into the bedroom to sleep. The 47-year-old thought the man would be able to free himself; it was not until the next morning that she realized Torres was lifeless and called 911. According to the press release from Bain's office, videos were shown during the trial in which Torres begs to be freed, with the woman laughing and pushing him away: "In the videos she recorded, the victim could be heard telling the defendant that she could not breathe and asking to be let out of the suitcase. Boone responded by saying, ‘this is what you get,’ 'this is what I feel when you cheat on me,' and other taunts." When asked by a prosecutor why she did not open the suitcase, the woman replied, "I wanted him to try to understand how I felt, so maybe he could progress and become a better person." Boone and his attorneys were surprised by the conviction.