Murder of Jorge Torres

Jorge Torres Jr., a 42-year-old American man, died of suffocation in Winter Park, Florida on February 23, 2020, after being zipped into a suitcase by his girlfriend, then-42-year-old Sarah Boone. Boone was arrested and charged with second-degree murder after police found videos on her phone depicting her interactions with Torres while he was inside the suitcase.

Prior to Torres's death, the couple had a documented history of domestic violence arrests. Torres had been arrested multiple times for alleged battery against Boone, and Boone bailed him out of jail each time. Boone herself had been arrested once, in July 2018, for battery by strangulation against Torres, though that charge was later dismissed.

On February 24, 2020, Boone called 9-1-1 to report that Torres was dead. She initially told investigators that she and Torres had been drinking wine and decided to play hide-and-seek, and that they thought it would be funny to put him in a suitcase while laughing together. She said she then went upstairs and fell asleep, leaving him in the suitcase. Boone later admitted she had struck Torres with a baseball bat while he was inside the suitcase. Investigators recovered two videos from Boone's phone, voluntarily turned over during the on-site investigation, showing her laughing as Torres pleaded for help from inside the suitcase, with Boone saying, "That's what you do when you choke me" and "That's what I feel like when you cheat on me." Boone told detectives she did not remember recording the videos. Torres's death was ruled a homicide.

Boone was held in Orange County jail without bail on a second-degree murder charge. Her case was marked by the withdrawal of eight different attorneys, seven of whom had been court-appointed; a judge ultimately ruled she had forfeited her right to court-appointed counsel. While representing herself, Boone submitted a handwritten advertisement seeking legal representation at a July 2024 hearing, which was widely circulated in media coverage; she subsequently obtained representation from attorney James Owens. Owens discussed a potential plea agreement to manslaughter with a 15-year sentence, which Boone rejected.

The trial began on October 14, 2024, following delays attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and Hurricane Milton. The defense argued Boone suffered from battered woman syndrome, while prosecutors argued she acted with malicious intent. On October 25, 2024, following closing arguments and less than two hours of jury deliberation, Boone was convicted of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in the Florida Department of Corrections on December 2, 2024. Reports indicated Boone was "shocked" by the verdict. She later obtained a thirteenth attorney after multiple appellate lawyers withdrew from her case.