Sarah Boone case: Winter Park woman accused of zipping boyfriend inside suitcase, leaving him there to die

Sarah Boone case: The interrogation room

Sarah Boone, a Florida woman, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., who died after allegedly being locked inside a suitcase during an apparent game of hide-and-seek. Torres died in February 2020. Boone said the two were drinking and she went up to her bedroom and fell asleep. When she awoke hours later, she said she found Torres still in the suitcase.

WINTER PARK, Fla.

Content warning: Some of the photos, videos, and detailed allegations in this report are disturbing and graphic and may be uncomfortable for some readers and viewers. View discretion is advised. 

Sarah Boone, the Florida woman accused of zipping her boyfriend inside a suitcase during an alleged game of hide-and-seek at their Winter Park home in February 2020 and leaving him there until he died, is scheduled to go on trial for second-degree murder in his death later this month. She’s pleaded not guilty to the charge

Boone was expected to be in Orange County court on Tuesday for a pre-trial conference, but she wasn’t there. Instead, lawyers for both the defense and the prosecution met briefly and decided to reschedule that hearing for sometime next week.

Ahead of the trial, here is what you need to know about the case.

911 call released in suitcase murder trial

A 911 call was placed by a Florida woman detailing the moments after she discovered the body of her boyfriend who died inside a suitcase in 2020. Sarah Boone is accused of killing 42-year-old Jorge Torres Jr., who was zipped inside the suitcase and left for hours during a reported game of “hide-and-seek” at their home in Winter Park.

Feb. 23, 2020 – A deadly game of alleged hide-and-seek

On Feb. 24, 2020 at 1:01 p.m., Sarah Boone called 911 to report that her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr. was dead inside their apartment in Winter Park, Florida. She told 911 dispatchers that she and Torres were playing a game of hide-and-seek the night before and during the game, both “jokingly thought it would be funny if Jorge got in the suitcase,” the arrest report stated.

Boone said she and Torres were drinking wine. At some point, she went upstairs and “passed out” in her bed, the report said. She said she woke up hours later to her cell phone ringing, went downstairs, and found Torres unresponsive and not breathing in the suitcase, according to the report.

Minutes after that 911 call, the Orange County Fire Department arrived and confirmed that Torres was dead.

The cell phone videos: “Sarah, I can’t breathe, babe”

During the investigation, detectives found two videos on Sarah’s iPhone. The videos appear to show Torres zipped inside the suitcase, occasionally moving, and seemingly begging Sarah to let him out. In the video, it seems Boone repeatedly taunts him. 

“Sarah, I can’t breathe, babe,” Torres said, according to the video.

“That’s on you,” she responds.

“Sarah, I can’t breathe,” he said again.

“That’s on you,” Boone responds, even laughing.

According to investigators, those videos were recorded shortly after 11 p.m., and hours before Boone eventually called 911. The second video, according to the report, shows the suitcase in a different position – flipped over and now on the left side of the living room. 

According to the arrest report, the autopsy found that Torres had scratches on his back, a large scratch on his neck, bruising on his left shoulder, and bruises on his forehead from “blunt force trauma.” He also had a cut on his lip, the report said.

The interrogation: ‘It was not intentional’

On Feb. 25, 2022, Sarah Boone drove to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office where she spoke with detectives for nearly two hours. During that interrogation, Boone said Torres’ injuries were from falling off her son’s bike or from falling or running into walls.

When detectives asked her to watch the videos found on her cell phone, Boone watched for a moment and then said she did not want to watch them. She told detectives that she thought Torres could get out of the suitcase alleging that it could be unzipped from the inside.

However, detectives questioned that because in the videos, they did not see Torres’ fingers reaching out of the suitcase anywhere.

“In the video, you can’t see any holes. There’s nowhere in that where the zipper separation you can see a hole. If there’s a hole, he’s pushing on it begging you to get out. We should probably see that hole,” one detective said in the interrogation.

“He essentially would have been able to get out,” another detective responds.

“I did not zip it all the way. I did not zip it up all the way. This is horrific, OK? Horrific. Horrific. I don’t think I’ll ever be right because of this,” Boone said, according to the interrogation video.

“It was not intentional. I’ll put my hand on the Bible. It was not intentional. I would not do that to him nor anyone else,” she later said.

“But you did,” a detective responds.

“Not intentional,” Boone responds, adding that she thought Torres would get out.

Battered spouse defense

At a January 2023 pretrial hearing, a lawyer representing Sarah Boone told the judge that he planned to argue a battered spouse defense at Boone’s upcoming trial, which is now expected to begin in July.

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

1. SDG 5: Gender Equality

   • Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres
   • Indicator: Number of women and girls subjected to violence

2. SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

   • Target 16.1: Significantly reduce all forms of violence and related death rates everywhere
   • Indicator: Number of intentional homicides

Analysis

The issues highlighted in the article are connected to SDG 5: Gender Equality and SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

The case of Sarah Boone involves violence against a woman, as she is accused of zipping her boyfriend inside a suitcase, resulting in his death. This aligns with Target 5.2 of SDG 5, which aims to eliminate all forms of violence against women and girls. The article mentions that the videos found on Boone’s cell phone show her taunting her boyfriend as he begs for help and says he cannot breathe. This indicates the presence of violence against a woman.

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

The case also relates to SDG 16, specifically Target 16.1, which aims to reduce all forms of violence and related death rates. The article mentions that Boone is charged with second-degree murder, indicating a form of violence resulting in death. The presence of intentional homicides, as indicated by the autopsy findings, aligns with the target of reducing violence and related death rates.

The indicators mentioned in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets are:

• Number of women and girls subjected to violence (Indicator for SDG 5)
• Number of intentional homicides (Indicator for SDG 16)

The article provides information about the violence against a woman and the intentional homicide that occurred in this case, which can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets.

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

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Source: fox35orlando.com

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