Sarah Boone, ‘Suitcase Killer,’ Sentenced to Life for Suffocating Boyfriend.
Sarah Boone, known as the “suitcase killer,” has been sentenced to life in prison for the suffocation death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres. On Monday, Judge Michael Kraynick imposed the life sentence, rejecting a request for a retrial by Boone’s defense attorneys. The case, which shocked the nation, began with a tragic incident on February 24, 2020, when Boone and Torres, intoxicated, played a drunken game of hide-and-seek in their Winter Park, Florida apartment. Boone zipped Torres inside a suitcase, and he ultimately suffocated to death.
During the trial, Boone was convicted of second-degree murder in October. The case garnered widespread attention after Boone’s chilling cellphone footage emerged. In the video, Torres could be heard desperately pleading, “Sarah, I can’t breathe, babe,” as he struggled to escape the confined suitcase. Boone coldly responded, “That’s on you,” and later added, “That’s what you get,” and “That’s how I feel when you betray me.” These haunting remarks were captured as Torres continued his frantic attempts to free himself.
The following day, Boone called 911 to report Torres’s death, claiming that the incident was a result of a game gone wrong. “We were playing last night, and I placed him in a suitcase; it was a sort of hide-and-seek game,” she explained. Sarah Boone further stated that she had lost consciousness and tried to perform CPR on Torres after realizing he had died, describing his body as “purple” and with “blood coming from his mouth.”
Despite Boone’s assertion that she had no intention to kill Torres and claimed self-defense due to alleged abuse, the court found her actions deliberately lethal. In a poignant moment during sentencing, Torres’ daughter tearfully described her father as a “hidden gem” who was taken unjustly “by evilness,” and she added, “I pray that you see his face when you see him at night.”
Self-defense due to alleged abuse is a legal argument often used in cases where an individual claims their actions were a response to physical, emotional, or psychological harm inflicted by another person. In these cases, the defendant argues that they acted to protect themselves from imminent danger or further abuse. However, to be legally valid, the claim must demonstrate a reasonable belief that they were in danger and that their response was proportionate to the threat. In Sarah Boone’s case, she argued that her actions were motivated by self-defense due to alleged abuse by her boyfriend, but this defense was rejected in court.
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