An American woman who filmed her boyfriend suffocating to death while laughing has been told by her lawyer that her actions were “justified.”
Sarah Boone appeared in court in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, October 18, facing second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of her partner, Jorge Torres. Torres, 42, was found dead inside a suitcase in their apartment in February 2020.
Boone, 46, claims the two were playing a drunken game of ‘hide and seek’ when Torres voluntarily climbed into the suitcase. She said she accidentally fell asleep while he was inside and woke up to find him dead the next morning.
In his opening statement, Boone’s attorney, James Owens, argued that Boone never intended to kill Torres, but that she had sought a “captive audience” after enduring repeated abuse during their three-year relationship. He contended that Boone’s actions were “justified.”
Prosecutor William Jay, on the other hand, described Boone’s behavior as “malicious,” alleging that she acted to “punish him” and left him to suffocate alone while she went to sleep.
Part of the prosecution’s evidence includes a disturbing video filmed by Boone in which Torres can be heard pleading, “Sarah, I can’t breathe,” multiple times from inside the suitcase. Boone can be heard laughing, saying, “For everything you’ve done to me, for everything you’ve done to me. F*** you.” She also compares his struggles to the times he allegedly choked her.
Owens, who is Boone’s ninth defense lawyer after several previous ones resigned, told the jury that both Boone and Torres had struggled with alcoholism and were in a “down and out” state. He claimed that Torres had been physically abusive toward Boone and that she suffered psychological trauma from the repeated violence of their relationship.
Owens added that Torres was jealous of Boone and that his intoxication often led to physical and sexual violence toward her.
Explaining how Boone had “captured” Torres in the suitcase, Owens argued, “Physically, they’re the same size, but he’s much stronger. If they fought, he would win every time. But she’s got him down, and he can’t get up. He’s forced to sit and listen. It’s a unique form of restraint.”
The court was also told that both Boone and Torres had been arrested previously for battery against one another.
Boone’s ex-husband, Brian Boone, testified that Sarah had drunkenly called him in the middle of the night. He hadn’t paid much attention at the time, as she had called him on previous occasions in a similar state. However, when he called her the next day to check on their 13-year-old son, she told him she had found Torres dead and asked him to come over.
Brian said when he arrived at the apartment, Boone still hadn’t called emergency services. After asking her again, she finally did. Boone reportedly told him that they had been playing ‘hide and seek,’ and she had fallen asleep while Torres was in the suitcase.
When he arrived at the apartment, Brian saw Torres’s feet sticking out from the living room and decided to wait for emergency services outside in his car.
Boone, who is currently in jail, was offered a plea deal before the trial that would have resulted in a 15-year prison sentence for manslaughter. She rejected the offer and is now facing a minimum sentence of 22-and-a-half years if convicted of second-degree murder. The trial continues.
