Sarah Boone is an American convicted murderer best known for the February 2020 death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., who suffocated inside a zipped suitcase at their Winter Park, Florida home while Boone recorded herself taunting him.
The case, widely covered under the media nickname “the suitcase murder”, became one of the most shocking and disturbing domestic homicide cases in Florida in recent memory.
After years of legal delays and thirteen attorneys, Boone was convicted of second-degree murder in October 2024 and sentenced to life in prison.
Profile
| Full Name | Sarah Boone |
| Date of Birth | c. 1977 (approximately 47 years old as of 2024 sentencing) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Convicted Murderer (incarcerated) |
| Conviction | Second-degree murder with a firearm (October 25, 2024) |
| Sentence | Life in prison (December 2, 2024) |
| Current Location | Florida Department of Corrections |
Background
Sarah Boone and Jorge Torres Jr. were in a volatile romantic relationship marked by documented incidents of mutual domestic conflict. Prior to the events of February 2020, both Boone and Torres had been arrested for battery against each other.
In July 2018, Boone was charged with battery by strangulation against Torres, though that charge was ultimately not prosecuted. Torres had also faced multiple domestic violence-related arrests involving Boone.
The Murder of Jorge Torres Jr.
On the night of February 23–24, 2020, Boone and Torres, then both 42 years old, had been drinking wine at their apartment in Winter Park, Florida. Boone told investigators that the two began playing a game of hide-and-seek, during which Torres voluntarily climbed into a large suitcase. Boone then zipped the suitcase closed.
Videos recovered from Boone’s cellphone told a radically different and far more disturbing story. The recordings showed Boone laughing while Torres pleaded desperately for help from inside the zipped suitcase. In one video, she could be heard saying, “That’s what I feel like when you cheat on me” and “For everything you’ve done to me, you.” At multiple points Torres could be heard crying out in distress. Boone did not unzip the suitcase. She went upstairs and fell asleep. Torres suffocated overnight. When Boone woke and found Torres unresponsive, she called 911.
The medical examiner ruled Torres’s death a homicide by positional asphyxia. He weighed 103 pounds at the time of his death, which prosecutors noted was how Boone, despite her smaller stature, was able to manage the suitcase. Boone was arrested on February 25, 2020, and charged with second-degree murder.
Legal Proceedings
The path to trial was chaotic and drawn out over more than four years. Boone cycled through thirteen attorneys, nine for trial representation and four for subsequent appellate work. Eight different court-appointed attorneys withdrew from the case, citing irreconcilable differences, her excessive demands, and her antagonistic behavior. Judge Michael Kraynick ruled in mid-2024 that Boone had forfeited her right to court-appointed counsel and would need to represent herself or retain private counsel.
Boone had rejected a 15-year plea deal before trial. Her trial began October 14, 2024, in Orange County Circuit Court. The prosecution played the chilling cellphone videos, which proved devastating to the defense’s claim that the events were accidental or that Boone had acted out of fear from battered spouse syndrome. Defense attorneys argued Boone suffered from Battered Woman Syndrome as a result of years of abuse by Torres. Boone testified in her own defense for five hours, claiming she had feared Torres would kill her if he escaped the suitcase. Prosecutors argued the videos demonstrated cold-blooded intent to punish, not self-defense.
After less than two hours of deliberation, the six-person jury found Boone guilty of second-degree murder on October 25, 2024. On December 2, 2024, Orange County Circuit Judge Michael Kraynick sentenced her to life in prison. The judge called the shooting “completely unnecessary” and stated the evidence showed Boone had acted with malicious intent. Torres’s mother, Blanca Torres, gave a tearful victim impact statement. Boone expressed remorse at sentencing, saying: “I am so sorry. I never intended to kill her.” She was subsequently transferred to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Personal Life
Sarah Boone’s personal background has not been extensively documented in verified public sources. She did not testify about a specific childhood or family history during her trial. As of 2025–2026, she is serving her life sentence and is on her fourth appellate attorney as she pursues an appeal of her conviction, having filed a motion for a new trial (which was denied) on grounds of alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Her projected release date under current sentencing is essentially permanent imprisonment.
Net Worth
No verified net worth figure is currently available.
Conclusion
Sarah Boone’s case stands as a chilling example of intimate partner violence taken to its most extreme conclusion, and documented, horrifyingly, by the perpetrator herself.
The cellphone videos she recorded as her boyfriend suffocated inside a suitcase became the most damning evidence against her and raised disturbing questions about the nature of cruelty, the dynamics of abusive relationships, and the limits of self-defense claims. She will spend the rest of her life in a Florida prison.
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