Florida Woman Accused of Killing Boyfriend By Zipping Him In Suitcase Rejects Plea Deal
A Florida woman has rejected a plea deal, as she stands accused of killing her boyfriend by zipping him up in a suitcase and leaving him there overnight. Sarah Boone was arrested back in 2020 in connection to the death of boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr. At the time, she claimed the two were playing a drunken game of hide-and-seek, and that she fell asleep after zipping him in. When she awoke the next day, she said, he was dead. She was charged with second degree murder. On Monday, October 7, Boone reportedly rejected a plea deal from prosecutors in which she would receive 15 years in prison for pleading guilty to manslaughter. Without the deal, she faces anywhere from 22.5 years to life if found guilty. While jury selection was set to begin this week, it was postponed to October 14, with Hurricane Milton to blame for the latest delay. Per CourtTV, the trial has been delayed 16 times already, as eight of Boone's attorneys have withdrawn from the case over her alleged behavior. With these latest updates in her case, video discovered on her phone after her arrest has started to go viral online, making headlines all over again. The video in question, seen above, shows Boone laughing, taunting Torres Jr. and accusing him of abusing her and cheating while he struggled to get out, telling her he couldn't breathe. "For everything you've done to me. F--k you. F--k you. Stupid," she can be heard saying, as he tells her, "I can't f--king breathe, Sarah." "That's my name, don't wear it out!" she says at one point. While being interrogated, Boone claimed she didn't remember making the videos and said she didn't believe Torres Jr. was stuck inside the suitcase when she went upstairs. "I didn't completely lock it. I opened it with one finger, I left enough in there for him to get out. And I wasn't planning on going upstairs and going to sleep," she told police. "My intention was not to leave him in there. I thought he was okay. That's how we are with each other. Nobody understands our relationship." In a hearing last month, her newest attorney, James Owens, told the judge they plan to use the "battered spouse syndrome for the defense." Owens was previously denied a motion to postpone the trial until 2025, after he recently joined the case. "I mean, what are the odds of a hurricane coming to Orlando right in the middle of this trial," he told The Orlando Sentinel on Monday, "when the judge had set a fixed date, he was not going to change it, except exceptional circumstances?" "We're confident in our case, and she believes in her case and I believe in her case," added Owens, referring to the rejected plea deal. "We came to an agreement that it was in her best interest to reject that offer and to take this case to trial.'
Video of victim Jorge Torres Jr. begging to be released from the suitcase -- shouting, "I can't f--king breathe, babe" before his death -- has gone viral again ahead of Sarah Boone's trial.
A Florida woman has rejected a plea deal, as she stands accused of killing her boyfriend by zipping him up in a suitcase and leaving him there overnight.
Sarah Boone was arrested back in 2020 in connection to the death of boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr. At the time, she claimed the two were playing a drunken game of hide-and-seek, and that she fell asleep after zipping him in. When she awoke the next day, she said, he was dead.
She was charged with second degree murder.
On Monday, October 7, Boone reportedly rejected a plea deal from prosecutors in which she would receive 15 years in prison for pleading guilty to manslaughter. Without the deal, she faces anywhere from 22.5 years to life if found guilty.
While jury selection was set to begin this week, it was postponed to October 14, with Hurricane Milton to blame for the latest delay. Per CourtTV, the trial has been delayed 16 times already, as eight of Boone's attorneys have withdrawn from the case over her alleged behavior.
With these latest updates in her case, video discovered on her phone after her arrest has started to go viral online, making headlines all over again.
The video in question, seen above, shows Boone laughing, taunting Torres Jr. and accusing him of abusing her and cheating while he struggled to get out, telling her he couldn't breathe.
"For everything you've done to me. F--k you. F--k you. Stupid," she can be heard saying, as he tells her, "I can't f--king breathe, Sarah."
"That's my name, don't wear it out!" she says at one point.
While being interrogated, Boone claimed she didn't remember making the videos and said she didn't believe Torres Jr. was stuck inside the suitcase when she went upstairs.
"I didn't completely lock it. I opened it with one finger, I left enough in there for him to get out. And I wasn't planning on going upstairs and going to sleep," she told police. "My intention was not to leave him in there. I thought he was okay. That's how we are with each other. Nobody understands our relationship."
In a hearing last month, her newest attorney, James Owens, told the judge they plan to use the "battered spouse syndrome for the defense."
Owens was previously denied a motion to postpone the trial until 2025, after he recently joined the case.
"I mean, what are the odds of a hurricane coming to Orlando right in the middle of this trial," he told The Orlando Sentinel on Monday, "when the judge had set a fixed date, he was not going to change it, except exceptional circumstances?"
"We're confident in our case, and she believes in her case and I believe in her case," added Owens, referring to the rejected plea deal. "We came to an agreement that it was in her best interest to reject that offer and to take this case to trial.'
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