US woman sentenced for leaving lover to die in suitcase while playing hide-and-seek

A US woman is found guilty of second-degree murder of her boyfriend, after she allegedly left him zipped up in a suitcase to die in 2020, reported The Guardian.

Sarah Boone, 42, zipped her boyfriend Jorges Torres Jr. into a suitcase while playing hide-and-seek which led to Torres’ death due to suffocation. Boone told the Orange County sheriff’s office that she and her boyfriend were playing the game after consuming alcohol in February 2020.

As per Boone, her boyfriend Torres voluntarily got inside a suitcase and as they were joking, she zipped him in.

Later on, Boone alleged that Torres had abused her in the past. She decided to have a conversation with him while he was confined in the suitcase so that she could express her feelings, reported USA Today.

Things started getting serious when the two started to argue, and believing that Torres would hurt her if he came out of the suitcase; she left him in there, only to find him dead the next morning.

In the video found on Boone's phone, she can be seen laughing and beating Torres' hand back into the suitcase with a baseball bat when he triesto escape. The video was aired in the courtroom and also featured Boone's boyfriend repeatedly saying that he couldn't breathe while she was laughing.

“That's what you do when you choke me” and “That's on you” were some of her responses as he kept calling for help.

Torres' autopsy report showed several injuries, including scratches on his back and neck, contusions to his shoulder, skull and forehead from blunt force trauma, as well as a cut near his busted lip, as per The Guardian report.

The verdict was handed down on Friday, four years after the incident, in a trial that lasted 10 days. Boone had pleaded not guilty, insisting that she believed he could have gotten out of the suitcase.

Boone’s attorney said they were very disappointed following the verdict, and that she was "shocked" at the verdict, CNN affiliate WESH reported.

Boone faces up to life in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced in early December, reported USA Today.

(With inputs from agencies)