The Sarah Boone suitcase video is cellphone footage Boone recorded herself in February 2020, showing her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr. trapped inside a zipped suitcase in their Orlando apartment, pleading that he could not breathe while Boone laughed and taunted him. That footage became the central evidence in her Florida murder trial. In October 2024, a jury convicted her of second-degree murder after roughly 90 minutes of deliberation, and in December 2024 she was sentenced to life in prison.
What the Videos Show
Investigators recovered the recordings from Boone’s own phone. In the footage, Torres is inside the zipped suitcase, pushing against its walls and frantically saying, “I can’t fucking breathe, seriously.” Boone’s voice responds with taunts. “Yeah, that’s what you do when you choke me,” she says. “For everything you’ve done to me. Fuck you. Stupid.” When Torres calls out her name, she answers, “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.” Other remarks captured on the recordings include “That’s what you get” and “That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me.”
Prosecutor William Jay told the jury the recordings would show no tears and no sorrow from the defendant. He said, “Jorge Torres took his last, panicked breaths in this box.”
How Jorge Torres Jr. Died
On the morning of February 24, 2020, Torres was found dead inside a suitcase in the Orlando apartment he shared with Boone. Boone called 911. When Orange County deputies arrived, she told them the couple had been drinking and playing hide-and-seek the night before, that Torres had climbed into the suitcase willingly, that she had zipped it shut, and that she had then fallen asleep and awakened to find him unresponsive.
The medical examiner determined Torres died of positional asphyxia with environmental suffocation consistent with prolonged confinement and ruled the manner of death a homicide. He had been inside the suitcase for an estimated eleven hours or more. His body showed a black eye, bruises and cuts on his head, and abrasions, bruises, and cuts on his back and hands consistent with blunt impacts. Alcohol was found in his system.
How the Footage Undercut Boone’s Story
The videos directly contradicted the lighthearted, accidental version of the night Boone gave police. Detectives confronted her with the recordings during her February 25, 2020 interrogation at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. She said she did not remember making them and continued to insist Torres’s death was accidental. Judge Michael Kraynick later found that several of her statements about the timeline “lacked credibility.”
Prosecutors also used text messages recovered from Boone’s phone, including one titled “I’ll get rid of him” sent in 2019, along with photographs of Torres’s injuries, forensic testimony about the cause of death, bodycam footage from the responding deputy, and evidence of prior domestic incidents between the couple.
The Trial and the Battered Spouse Defense
Jury selection began on October 14, 2024, after a brief delay caused by Hurricane Milton. The ten-day trial before Judge Kraynick concluded on October 25, 2024.
Boone’s attorney, James Owens, argued that she suffered from battered spouse syndrome and acted in self-defense. Forensic psychologist Dr. Julie Harper testified that Boone had anxiety, PTSD, and narcissistic personality traits, and was suffering from battered spouse syndrome at the time of Torres’s death. Dr. Michael Brannon, another expert on the syndrome, also testified, though the court restricted him to hypothetical terms.
Boone took the stand for about five hours. She testified that she lived in “constant fear” of Torres and described the suitcase incident as the first time she had “officially” fought back. Asked by a prosecutor why she had not simply unzipped the suitcase, she answered, “I wanted him to try to understand how I felt so maybe he could progress and be a better person.” She also presented photographs she said showed injuries Torres had inflicted on her.
The relationship did have a documented history of mutual violence. Both had prior Orange County arrests for battery against one another, including a September 2019 arrest of Torres for allegedly punching Boone while a temporary protective injunction was in place. Neighbors testified the couple argued “almost daily.”
To rebut the defense theory, prosecutors called forensic psychiatrist Dr. Tonia Werner. Werner agreed Boone exhibited signs of battered spouse syndrome but testified that the diagnosis was not “applicable to the facts of Jorge Torres’ death in 2020.” She said Boone described the evening as starting with the couple “having a good time and laughing” before Boone remembered past feelings of being choked and became angry. Werner also said Boone admitted to shaking the suitcase and hitting Torres’s hand with a baseball bat when he stuck his fingers out. Having battered spouse syndrome, Werner told the jury, does not inherently justify actions taken against a partner.
The Verdict and Life Sentence
During closing arguments, prosecutors replayed the suitcase videos. Torres’s family reacted emotionally, prompting an unsuccessful defense motion for a mistrial. The six-person jury deliberated for roughly 90 minutes before returning a unanimous guilty verdict on second-degree murder.
Boone had rejected a plea offer of fifteen years for manslaughter the week before trial. Owens said afterward he was “disappointed” but respected the jury’s decision and acknowledged the state had presented “strong evidence.” He said Boone was “shocked” by the outcome and had been “determined to go to trial” because she maintained she had not intended to kill Torres.
On December 2, 2024, Judge Kraynick sentenced Boone to life in the Florida Department of Corrections. Torres’s mother, Blanca Torres, told the court Boone “not only killed my son, she killed a father, brother, an uncle.” His daughter, Ana Victoria Torres, called her father “one of a kind” and a “hidden gem,” and told Boone, “I pray that you see his face when you see him at night.” She said the loss had caused her chronic depression and anxiety, and that for the first year she woke up “screaming every morning or night wishing I was having a nightmare.”
Boone spoke for about twenty minutes. She alleged Torres had abused her, aired grievances about the criminal justice system and media coverage, and asked forgiveness from Torres and his family. “I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster,” she said.
Before imposing the sentence, Judge Kraynick denied a defense motion for a new trial that had alleged prosecutorial misconduct, including the state’s failure to disclose a new opinion from its rebuttal expert and what the defense characterized as a “second closing argument” disguised as rebuttal.
Appeal Status
Boone’s appeal has been marked by continuing attorney turnover. Her first appointed appellate attorney was replaced after sixteen days. A second appellate lawyer, Joshua Adams, appointed in December 2024, later moved to withdraw, stating he was “no longer practicing appellate work.” Before that motion, Boone filed a five-page complaint alleging Adams had failed to respond to her phone calls, letters, and emails, and that her appeal was “in jeopardy.” She was granted an extension to file her appeal brief, with a deadline of September 1, 2025. By late 2025, Boone was reportedly represented by her thirteenth attorney overall.