Sarah Boone case: Florida woman who allegedly put boyfriend in suitcase accuses her lawyer of lying

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida woman accused of killing her boyfriend in February 2020 said her attorney – the seventh lawyer chosen to represent her – had lied to her and had a "snotty" attitude.

Sarah Boone, 46, is facing charges for allegedly murdering Jorge Torres Jr. after zipping him up in a suitcase and leaving him there to die, deputies said.

According to Boone, the couple was drinking during a game of hide and seek, and she fell asleep with Torres locked inside the suitcase. 

Boone's trial was supposed to begin last month. During a pretrial hearing on Friday, Boone laid out all her issues with her current criminal defense attorney, Patricia Cashman.  

"I feel she is untruthful with me and full-blown prejudiced against me, which I believe adds to her nasty attitude towards me, and I do not trust her," Boone told Circuit Court Judge Michael Kraynick. "Everyone constantly, constantly, constantly blames me, that I am the reason why I am supposedly going on attorney number eight, which I am not the reason for any of them."

Boone's lawyer did not disagree that the two of them struggled to get along.

"I know the court's in a difficult position, but at this point, we're at that impasse of, if she walks out of every conference that I have with her, I'm not sure what that says about the attorney-client relationship," Cashman responded. "I've spent probably 20 hours – a little bit more, a little bit less with Ms. Boone. She has lots of lists, lots of questions."

Judge Kraynick said he wished to proceed with determining a trial date but would review Boone's concerns as she outlined in a 58-page letter to the court.

"I'm not dismissing your concerns, Ms. Boone," the judge said before deciding on a trial date of Monday, Oct. 7, 2024.

Since Feb. 2020, multiple lawyers appointed to represent Boone have chosen to withdraw as counsel, citing "irreconcilable differences." One lawyer suggested Boone "represent herself as no attorney can satisfy her," while another attorney said the relationship between them and Boone had become "adversarial," according to court documents.

On Feb. 25, 2020, Boone, then 42, was arrested by Orange County deputies after detectives said 42-year-old Jorge Torres Jr. died after being zipped into a suitcase and left inside for hours. The incident reportedly happened at the couple's Winter Park home near Aloma Avenue and Goldenrod Road.

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According to investigators, Boone told them that she and Torres, 42, had been drinking wine and playing hide-and-seek when she claimed she went upstairs and passed out in her bed.

She said she woke up hours later to her cellphone ringing multiple times. She then allegedly realized her boyfriend was possibly still inside the suitcase, and when she unzipped it, she found Torres unresponsive and not breathing. Boone called 911, and deputies arrived to find Torres dead.  

The Florida State Attorney's Office released a video allegedly recorded on Boone's cell phone showing a conversation between her and Torres. 

In the video, Boone is heard laughing as Torres screams from inside the suitcase, pleading for help until his final breath, investigators said.

"For everything you've done to me, [expletive] you! Stupid," Boone could be heard saying in the video. "That's on you. Oh, that's what I feel like when you cheat on me," she reportedly added.

Content warning: The video below may be graphic and disturbing to some.

Boone faces a charge of second-degree murder in Torres' death.

The attorneys agreed to meet again on Tuesday, Sept. 24, for trial case management.