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A Florida woman was sentenced to life in prison Monday for the 2020 murder of her boyfriend, who she sealed in a suitcase overnight until he suffocated and died while she taunted him.

Sarah Boone, 47, smiled in an Orlando courtroom after Circuit Judge Michael Kraynick sentenced the convicted killer who was found guilty of second-degree murder in October for the death of her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr.

Sarah Boone being led off in handcuffs in an Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, glancing back at the gallery. AP

Boone had trapped Torres, 42, in a suitcase overnight and recorded a video of herself taunting him before leaving him to die.

A jury took only 90 minutes to find her guilty after a 10-day trial in which Boone claimed her boyfriend abused her.

Torres’ family packed the courtroom Monday and several relatives spoke about the impact of his death before the sentencing, pouring out their grief over his torturous demise.

“Sometimes when I look out the window, I’m waiting for him to come and say, ‘Mom, I love you,’” his mother Blanca Torres said.

One of Torres Jr.’s daughters, Anna Victoria Torres, detailed the mental health issues she has suffered since her father’s death, including chronic depression and anxiety. She said that for the first year, she would wake up screaming and “wishing I was having a nightmare, only to wake up and remember all over again that my father is gone.”

Boone took the stand before her sentencing in a last-ditch effort to sway favor her way. She had proven to be a difficult client throughout her trial and cycled through a whopping nine attorneys, as reported by WESH.

Family members of Jorge Torres, Jr. were emotional during the sentencing of Sarah Boone in the courtroom of Orange County Courthouse, Orlando, Florida. AP
Jorge Torres Jr. was killed by his girlfriend after she trapped him in a suitcase overnight, leaving
him to suffocate. Good Life Funeral Home & Cremation
Sarah Boone during her sentencing at the Orange County Courthouse. AP

Boone and her defense team had spent the trial arguing that Torres had been abusive and that she only killed him because she was ailed by “battered spouse syndrome,” WESH reported.

“I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster. And no matter how grotesque he may become, I still loved him, hoped and forgave,” Boone said.

She alleged that Torres Jr. had “kicked, punched, spit on, raped, stabbed, [and] choked” her throughout their relationship.

Despite her accusations against him, she asked for forgiveness for her lover’s death.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen. Forgive me Jorge,” she pleaded. “Forgive me Torres family.”

Sarah Boone in a black shirt and white gloves demonstrating to a jury how she zipped up a blue suitcase. Court TV
Prosecutor Dave Cacciatore Jr. takes out the suitcase in evidence at Sarah Boone’s trial, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida. AP

The February 2020 murder started during a night of drinking and a game of hide-and-seek, according to a news release from State Attorney Andrew Bain.

Torres Jr. had hidden in the suitcase as part of the game. Boone then zipped the suitcase up, recorded herself taunting him as he pleaded to be released, and went to bed.

“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. Boone responded with, ‘That’s what you get,’ ‘That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me’ and other taunts,” the news release read.

Sarah Boone being led away by police following her arrest in 2020. Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Sarah Boone smiles as she glances back at supporters in a courtroom of the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida, on Monday, Dec. 2, 2024. AP

Torres was dead by the following morning, having suffocated at some point in the night.

Boone claimed she thought he would be able to get himself out because two of his fingers were poking out of the suitcase, according to an arrest affidavit from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

She originally pleaded not guilty to the charges and later rejected a plea offer of a 15-year sentence.

With Post wires.

Read the full article here

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