Sarah Boone, the Florida woman on trial for killing her boyfriend in 2020 by putting him in a suitcase, took the stand on Tuesday.
Boone, 47, testified that she and Jorge Torres, Jr., 42, were playing hide-and-seek when Torres got in the suitcase and lay flat. She claimed she was intoxicated when she zipped the suitcase and filmed Torres struggling to get out, according to People.
“I zipped him up. We thought it was funny and were joking about how he was small enough to fit inside the suitcase,” she said.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that Torres was 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed about 100 pounds. During her five-hour testimony, Boone explained that she kept him in the suitcase so he could understand it was the only time she felt safe.
The defense has claimed Torres abused Boone, citing a 2018 incident in which Torres kicked Boone in the face. Torres was arrested on three instances for hitting Torres. Boone was also arrested in the 2018 incident for choking Torres, but she claimed she was acting in self-defense.
Boone showed jurors a scar she has from when Torres stabbed her with a steak knife. Boone said Torres forced her to tell the hospital staff that they were play sword fighting when the injury occurred.
Boone, who is charged with second-degree murder, is claiming self-defense in Torres’ death. At some point, Boone allegedly saw Torres’ hand creeping out of the suitcase and she hit it with a baseball bat. Medical examiner Dr. Sara Zydowicz previously testified that Torres died from positional asphyxia with environmental suffocation. She also said he had blunt-force injuries near his mouth, on the left side of his back, on his forearms and hands which could have been caused by a bat, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Boone admitted to going to bed while Torres was still trapped in the suitcase. During cross-examination, she said she believed Torres could breathe in the suitcase — but she also stated that “he couldn’t harm me” while in there.
Testimony continues…
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[Feature Photo: Orange County Sheriff’s Office]
