Sarah Boone bragged about her time behind bars when she was sentenced to spend the rest of her life in prison for suffocating her boyfriend in a suitcase.
Boone, 47, of Winter Park, Florida, was found guilty in October of first-degree murder in the February 2020 death of her boyfriend Jorge Torres, 42.
Her lawyer James Owens said she was “in shock” by the guilty verdict and that she “had a defense” after claiming Torres repeatedly punched her and that she feared for her life.
She doubled down on those claims in court Monday, when she addressed Torres’ family.
“I’m sorry,” said Boone, according to The Independent.
“Words cannot describe my shame, and I don’t know what else I can say to help the Torres family understand how this happened.
‘Everyone assumes[s] that this is one of the worst experiences of my life, and actually one of the greatest,” she continued.
‘If I wasn’t beaten to death, I would work myself to death on the outside. And I never had time to get back into my Bible and pray and be with the Lord.
“And I, being in prison, have had time… to draw closer to God, to reacquaint myself with Him.”
Sarah Boone, 47, smiled as she was sentenced to life in prison on Monday
She was found guilty of second-degree murder in October for the February 2020 death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres, 42, whom she locked in a suitcase after a night of drinking.
Boone went on to say that she has focused her efforts on forgiveness because “when you forgive, you heal, and when you heal, you move forward.”
“I forgive Jorge for beating me senseless,” she said, claiming he “hit me, kicked me, punched me, spit on me, raped me.” [and] stabbed her.
She even claimed that Torres tried to “make me unrecognizable to my son by breaking all the bones in my face,” while criticizing Torres’ family for “turning a blind eye” to her abuse. Newsweek reports.
Boone also said she forgave herself “for falling in love with a monster.”
“I tried to break the spell… I never stopped loving him,” she claimed. ‘I didn’t mean for this to happen.
‘Forgive me, Jorge. Please forgive the Torres family.”
But his family members who spoke at Monday’s sentencing urged Judge Michael Kraynick to keep her locked up for a long time.
“Sarah deserves to rot in prison,” Sister Victoria Torres said. “Sarah has caused a lifetime of pain.”
Boone had claimed she zipped Torreres into the bag during a wine hide-and-seek game at their home
Torres’ family urged the judge to lock Boone up for a long period of time
Boone had claimed she zipped Torreres into the bag during a wine hide-and-seek game at their home.
“I looked over and saw him nestling in the suitcase,” she testified at her trial. “I zipped it up.
“We thought it was funny and joked about the fact that it was small enough to fit in the suitcase.”
But Boone had also taken two videos of Torres trapped in luggage, showing him thrashing around and telling her he couldn’t breathe — to which Boone replied, “That’s on you.”
Torres later shouted, “I can’t fucking breathe,” as she laughed.
“Yes, that’s what you do when you strangle me… Oh, this is what I feel when you cheat on me… For everything you’ve done to me, you f*** stupid,” Boone was heard saying in the videos.
She demonstrated in court how she zipped up the suitcase with Torres still inside
She later went upstairs and “passed out” before waking up the next morning to find Torres still in the suitcase.
Boone then called 911 and described him like ‘stiff and purple’ and blood was coming out of his mouth. It was later determined that Torres died due to positional asphyxia.
During the conversation, Boone was heard telling an emotionless story about what happened.
When asked about the nature of her emergency, she had said calmly, “My friend is dead.”
The 911 operator then coached Boone through CPR as she protested that she had already tried and asked them to “hurry up.”
However, Boone testified in court that she was “stunned” and could not describe the “sense of fear” when she discovered his body.
Her attorney, James Owens, claimed she was a victim of battered wife syndrome
She alleged that Torres “hit, kicked, punched, spit on and raped me [and] stabbed her
Prosecutors argued in court that Boone’s actions proved she had no regard for Torres’ life, as she defended herself by saying she was a victim of battered husband syndrome and feared Torres would kill her if she released him would let.
Her claims were supported by two Orange County officers who confirmed they had responded to domestic violence calls at the home in the years leading up to Torres’ death. WESH reports.
A former neighbor also testified that she saw marks on Boone’s arm and neck, and Boone would discuss the abuse during a conversation, reported Orlando news 6.
Boone herself also claimed that she did not let Torres out of the luggage because he had tried to escape by force and that he was angry, saying that she was “always in fear.”
“His hand started coming through, so I shook the suitcase to try to get his hand back in.” I told him stop doing this to me,” she told the court.
“He always told me he would make me unrecognizable or I would have lost my life,” she added before explaining that she used a baseball bat to put his hand back in and hit his hand.
But under cross-examination, Boone admitted that she wanted Torres to know how she felt dealing with his alleged abuse.
“I wanted him to try to understand how I felt so that maybe he could move forward and become a better person,” she said.
Boone was arrested in 2018 on a battery charge for the strangulation of her boyfriend, and Torres was charged with battery stemming from an alcohol-fueled altercation in their home
But court records show that Boone himself was arrested in 2018 on a battery charge after Torres’ attempted strangulation, and was charged in connection with an alcohol-fueled altercation at their home.
According to the affidavit, Boone put her hands around his neck in an attempt to strangle him, prompting Torres to kick her.
A year later, Torres was arrested twice in one month on battery charges.
When she was charged in his death, Boone went through eight different attorneys before finally signing her own ad for an attorney.
She had also rejected a plea deal for 15 years in prison for manslaughter. She also made a daring request, which was denied, for professional hair and makeup while she was on trial.
Then, following her guilty plea, her defense filed a motion for a new trial, raising concerns about fairness and legality.
In the filing, they complained of denial of court-appointed counsel, emotional outbursts in court and prosecutorial misconduct.
But Judge Michael Kraynick denied the motion before sentencing Boone to life behind bars.