ORLANDO, Fla. – Sarah Boone, the woman convicted of leaving her boyfriend Jorge Torres inside a suitcase where he died, was sentenced to life in prison on Monday afternoon.
On Oct. 25, Boone was found guilty of second-degree murder after leaving Torres Jr., 42, to die of asphyxiation in a zipped-up suitcase in 2020.
On Monday afternoon, Jorge Torres’ mother told the court, “Since that day I can’t sleep. It’s hard for me to remember that moment. She not only killed a man she killed a father, a brother, an uncle. It’s been hard on my family.”
Jorge Torres’ sister, Victoria Torres also addressed the court during the sentencing hearing.
“Sarah deserves to rot in jail,” Victoria Torres said. “Sara has caused a lifetime of pain, a lifetime of hearing my brother plead for his life.... Such a simple thing as closing a suitcase is triggering. She turned my family’s life upside down.”
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In addition, several people came forward to say good things about Sarah Boone, including two women she served time in jail with, as well as the jail chaplain.
Boone’s attorneys tried to make the final case for her as a domestic abuse victim suffering from battered spouse syndrome.
Prosecutor Dave Cacciatore tried to refute that claim, showing cell phone video recorded by Boone the day Torres died. The video shows him inside the suitcase, and he could be heard saying he couldn’t breathe.
Boone will now be transferred to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections to serve her sentence, officials said.
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