A woman accused of leaving her boyfriend to suffocate in a suitcase and taunting him while he pleaded to be released is set to appear in court charged with second degree murder.
Sarah Boone was arrested in February 2020 after telling police she had passed out after zipping Jorge Torres Jr, 42, inside the bag during a booze-fueled game of hide-and-seek at their home in Winter Park, Florida.
But her story unraveled when investigators discovered video on her phone showing Torres thrashing around inside the suitcase, desperately telling her: ‘I can’t f***ing breathe’.
Boone, who was 42 at the time of the alleged crime, is now due to appear in court for a pretrial hearing on January 30 after a judge rescheduled the date Tuesday.
Sarah Boone was arrested in February 2020 after telling police she had passed out after zipping Jorge Torres Jr, 42, inside the bag during a game of hide-and-seek at their home in Winter Park, Florida
This screenshot from a cellphone video allegedly recorded by Sarah Boone shows the blue suitcase where Jorge Torres Jr suffocated to death after being zipped up inside
In a two-minute video found on Boone’s phone, she is allegedly heard telling Torres with a laugh: ‘For everything you’ve done to me. F*** you. Stupid.’
The boyfriend continues calling out the girlfriend’s name, telling her: ‘I can’t f***ing breathe, seriously.’
Boone replies: ‘Yeah, that’s what you do when you choke me.’
After listening to Torres’ pleas saying he cannot breathe, she says: ‘That’s on you. Oh, that’s what I feel like when you cheat on me. You should probably shut the f*** up.’
In a second video with a duration of 22 seconds, the suitcase is seen in a different position than in the first recording, this time facing upward. Torres calls out Boone’s name before she stops recording.
Boone later called 911, telling the operator ‘my boyfriend is dead,’ according to a recording first obtained by Orlando Sentinel.
She continued: ‘My boyfriend and I were playing last night, and I put him in a suitcase and we were playing…like kind of a hide-and-seek kind thing, so…I fell asleep and I woke up and he was dead in the suitcase. I don’t know what happened.’
Boone proceeded to tell the dispatcher that Torres had ‘blood coming out of his mouth’ and speculated that he may have suffered an aneurysm.
She added that her boyfriend had a purple hue when she pulled him out of the suitcase and tried to administer CPR.
‘He’s stiff and he’s purple,’ she is heard telling the operator.
Boone is escorted by a police officer following her arrest in February 2020. Police discovered videos on her phone allegedly showing the woman filming Torres pleading to be released from the suitcase
During her initial interview with a detective, Boone said she and Torres were painting pictures, completing a puzzle and drinking Woodbridge Chardonnay when they decided to play hide-and-seek.
Boone said she hid upstairs in the shower, but Torres never went up to look for her.
When she came downstairs, she found Torres in the living room, and together they decided to have her zip up Torres in the blue suitcase, leaving two of his fingers sticking out of the zipper.
Boone claimed she got into bed while Torres was still stuck in the suitcase, thinking he could get himself out
‘Sarah and Jorge were both laughing that she zipped him into the suitcase,’ the affidavit stated.
At 12.30am, Boone said she decided to go upstairs while Torres was still stuck in the suitcase, thinking that he could get himself out.
Boone got in bed and fell asleep half an hour later. She claimed neither she not her boyfriend were drunk from the wine.
She told the detective she assumed Torres was going to get out of the bag and join her in bed, the affidavit stated.
Boone woke up the next morning and stayed in a bed for while. She said she assumed Torres was already downstairs ‘on the laptop looking for employment.’
She finally went downstairs at around 11am and could not find her boyfriend anywhere.
‘Sarah freaked out and remembered the last time she saw Jorge was when she zipped him in the suitcase,’ according to the arrest document.
She then unzipped the luggage and found Torres unresponsive inside.
Boone called her ex-husband, who arrived a few minutes later and instructed Boone to call 911.
Deputies who responded to the residence in the 4700 block of Frantz Lane found Torres’ lifeless body laying on the floor next to a blue suitcase.
The victim had a cut on his lip, bruising around his eye, forehead and shoulder, and nail scratches on his back and neck, according to the document.
Jorge Torres Jr, 42, a father-of-three, had a history of domestic violence involving Boone. In 2018, he was charged with battery stemming from an alcohol-fueled altercation inside their home
During the investigation, Boone gave verbal and written consent to the detective to search her phone, leading to the discovery of the two videos.
During a follow-up police interview, Boone denied getting into a fight with Torres and intentionally leaving him in the suitcase.
She also said she did not remember recording the videos, which she conceded ‘looked ‘bad.”
Boone then reportedly contradicted her original statement to the police, blaming what happened on her and Torres’ alcohol consumption.
Records indicate that the couple had a history of domestic violence.
In June 2018, Boone was arrested on a charge of battery by strangulation targeting her boyfriend, and Jorge was charged with battery stemming from an alcohol-fueled altercation inside their home.
According to an affidavit, Torres told a deputy Boone wrapped her hands around his neck and attempted to strangle him as he was walking upstairs to get away from her after an argument, prompting him to kick her.
A year later, Torres was arrested twice in a span of two months on charges of battery – dating violence.
His obituary reveals that Torres was a father of three. His girlfriend has a son from a previous marriage.
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