Boone is accused of killing her boyfriend Jorge Torres, Jr. by zipping him into a suitcase in February 2020
Sarah Boone, the woman accused of killing her boyfriend by zipping him into a suitcase is standing trial after the February 2020 death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, Jr. He was 42 years old.
Over four years after Torres died, Boone took the stand during a court appearance on Tuesday, Oct. 22. and recalled her and Torres playing a game of hide-and-seek.
Boone said during the game she ran to an upstairs restroom to hide in the shower and waited for "quite some time." She said she "decided" to "start wrapping up the evening" as she was ready to go to bed.
She went downstairs to look for Torres when she saw him "settling himself into a suitcase," later adding that "he was trying to get himself flat so I couldn't see that he was in there."
"I zipped him up. We thought it was funny and were joking about how he was small enough to fit inside the suitcase," said Boone. "From there, we were laughing about it, and it was just strange that he was small enough to fit in there, and then I kind of moved it around a little bit with him in the suitcase still. It was still funny that he was still in the suitcase. I think he and I couldn't believe that he could fit in the suitcase."
She alleged that Torres had already pulled the top of the suitcase on top of him, and she zipped him up, which she said they both thought was "funny."
"From there, I moved the suitcase around a couple of times on the wheels and moved it around and at that point it was still it was funny we were joking and laughing about it," she said.
Boone — who also claimed that Torres had been abusive on multiple occasions, per Law & Crime — said the suitcase was "flopped over" due to her moving it around. She began videotaping, noting that she wanted to "take the time to talk" to Torres since he "was not able to get out," giving her the chance to speak to him "in a manner I ordinarily would not have the ability to do."
In Boone's footage that was shown in court, the suitcase, with Torres presumably inside, is seen as he is heard saying her name. She tells him in part, "For everything you've done to me," as she continues taping.
Boone, who confirmed in her testimony that she was intoxicated, said things got "heated very quickly" as Torres allegedly threatened her and "continued to push on the suitcase."
After his hand allegedly got out of the suitcase, she claims that she "shook" the suitcase as he Torres was "forcefully" trying to get out and, in a "split-second reaction," got a baseball bat to "poke his hand to go back in."
Boone said she felt "safe" enough to turn the suitcase back over and claimed she left enough room for him to get out. She allegedly then went to sleep and found him dead in the suitcase the next day, per Law & Crime.
A forensic pathologist testified during the trial that Torres died as a result of positional asphyxia with environmental suffocation, with the manner of death classified as a homicide.
Boone, who was charged with second-degree murder after the incident, has pleaded not guilty, per the Orlando Sentinel.