ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – The murder trial of Sarah Boone continues Monday in Orange County court.
Boone, 47, faces a charge of second-degree murder. She’s accused of leaving her boyfriend — Jorge Torres Jr., 42 — to die of asphyxiation in a zipped-up suitcase in 2020.
Orange County Circuit Judge Michael S. Kraynick on Thursday swore in a jury of six, with eight alternates, while opening statements were presented and testimony began on Friday in Boone’s murder trial.
The jury heard opening statements Friday morning, with the state claiming that Boone murdered her boyfriend, while the defense said it was self-defense.
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The prosecution’s opening statement was delivered by Assistant State Attorney William Jay, who said, “She did this with the malicious intent to punish him and then she went up to sleep and left him to take his final breaths on this Earth alone.”
He also spoke about Boone’s 911 call the next day.
“What you will not hear are tears. (...) You will not hear sorrow,” Jay said.
Prosecutors said Boone showed no regard for Torres’ life, but her attorneys claimed that she was the victim of battered spouse syndrome and locked Torres in the suitcase because of prior abuse.
The state said Boone never mentioned self-defense when first questioned by authorities.
ClickOrlando.com will stream the trial live at the top of this story.
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