Accused killer Sarah Boone currently representing self while awaiting new lawyer:' I am thoroughly confused'

ORLANDO, Fla. - Accused killer Sarah Boone is still looking to hire an attorney. For now – she's still on her own, representing herself in court, and she's already running into issues.

In court on Thursday, she expressed frustration that the hearing, which the court had scheduled the day before, came as a surprise to her.

 "I am thoroughly confused," Boone told the judge. 

"If I'm pro se and my own attorney, shouldn’t I be included in all of this, so I know what’s going on and not a surprise hearing like it is for the second time?"

"Ma’am, again, this is why there were benefits to being represented by counsel. The court has already identified the reasons why you no longer have those benefits. It makes things exceptionally more difficult, which I explained to you in communicating with the court and communicating with the State Attorney’s Office." Judge Wayne Wooten said.

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For now, Boone has forfeited her right to counsel and will likely represent herself at her upcoming trial.

Boone is charged with second-degree murder in the 2020 death of her then-boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr.

She is accused of locking her boyfriend inside a suitcase during an alleged drunken game of hide-and-seek at their Winter Park home.

She told deputies that she passed out upstairs after drinking wine and awoke hours later to find her boyfriend unresponsive.

Boone has had eight defense attorneys over the last four years. Seven were appointed by the court to represent her and most eventually asked the judge to be withdrawn from the case due to conflicts.

Boone said she is doing her best to prepare for her case but wants more access to all the discovery evidence.

"I don’t know if this is something that I need to pursue continuously still for me to be able to receive my hard copies because no one tells me anything," Boone told Wooten. 

"I cannot answer that question because that may call for me providing legal advice, which I am prohibited from doing," Wooten replied. 

The judge said she would be given access to a laptop from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Her next hearing is set for Aug. 5 with her trial beginning on Oct. 7.

Who is Sarah Boone? What allegedly happened between Boone and her then boyfriend?

On Feb. 24, 2020 at 1:01 p.m., Sarah Boone called 911 to report that her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., was dead inside their apartment in Winter Park, Florida. She told 911 dispatchers that she and Torres were playing a game of hide-and-seek the night before and during the game, both "jokingly thought it would be funny if Jorge got in the suitcase," the arrest report stated.

Boone said she and Torres were drinking wine. At some point, she went upstairs and "passed out" in her bed, the report said. She said she woke up hours later to her cell phone ringing, went downstairs, and found Torres unresponsive and not breathing in the suitcase, according to the report.

Minutes after that 911 call, the Orange County Fire Department arrived and confirmed that Torres was dead.

The cell phone videos: "Sarah, I can't breathe, babe"

During the investigation, detectives found two videos on Boone's iPhone, which were later released. The videos appear to show Torres zipped inside the suitcase, occasionally moving, and seemingly begging Boone to let him out. In the video, it seems Boone repeatedly taunts him. 

"Sarah, I can't breathe, babe," Torres said, according to the video.

"That's on you," she responds.

"Sarah, I can't breathe," he said again.

"That's on you," Boone responds, even laughing.

According to investigators, those videos were recorded shortly after 11 p.m., and hours before Boone eventually called 911. The second video, according to the report, shows the suitcase in a different position – flipped over and now on the left side of the living room. 

According to the arrest report, the autopsy found that Torres had scratches on his back, a large scratch on his neck, bruising on his left shoulder, and bruises on his forehead from "blunt force trauma." He also had a cut on his lip, the report said.

Sarah Boone is charged with second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr., who died after being zipped inside a suitcase. Boone said the two were playing hide-and-seek and that she fell asleep, and later came down and found him dead. Prosecutors said videos found on Boone's cell phone show her taunting him, as he begs for help and says he cannot breathe. Warning: Video may be disturbing to some.

The interrogation: ‘It was not intentional’

On Feb. 25, 2022, Boone drove to the Orange County Sheriff's Office where she spoke with detectives for nearly two hours. During that interrogation, Boone said Torres' injuries were from falling off her son's bike or from falling or running into walls.

When detectives asked her to watch the videos found on her cell phone, Boone watched for a moment and then said she did not want to watch them. She told detectives that she thought Torres could get out of the suitcase alleging that it could be unzipped from the inside.

However, detectives questioned that because in the videos, they did not see Torres' fingers reaching out of the suitcase anywhere.

"In the video, you can't see any holes. There's nowhere in that where the zipper separation you can see a hole. If there's a hole, he's pushing on it begging you to get out. We should probably see that hole," one detective said in the interrogation.

"He essentially would have been able to get out," another detective responds.

"I did not zip it all the way. I did not zip it up all the way. This is horrific, OK? Horrific. Horrific. I don't think I'll ever be right because of this," Boone said, according to the interrogation video.

"It was not intentional. I'll put my hand on the Bible. It was not intentional. I would not do that to him nor anyone else," she later said.

"But you did," a detective responds.

"Not intentional," Boone responds, adding that she thought Torres would get out.

When is Sarah Boone's trial?

According to the most recent court docket, a trial management conference is scheduled for Sept. 29, 2024. Trial is currently scheduled to begin on Oct. 7, 2024.