From: jcs
Two videos recorded by Sarah Boone on her phone played a critical role in the investigation and charges related to the death of her boyfriend, George Torres Jr.. These videos contradicted her initial account of the events leading to his death and provided crucial evidence of her actions and state of mind.
Discovery and Content of the Videos
Police discovered two videos on Sarah Boone’s phone, recorded the night George Torres Jr. died [00:02:08].
- First Video The first video was recorded at 11:12 PM [00:02:12]. It shows Sarah Boone laughing as George Torres Jr. is zipped inside a suitcase [00:02:14]. In this video, George Torres Jr. is heard asking to be let out and repeatedly stating that he cannot breathe [00:02:18].
- Second Video The second video was recorded just 11 minutes later [00:02:21], at 11:23 PM [00:26:25]. This video shows the same scene, but the suitcase has been flipped over and moved to a different area of the apartment, closer to the dining room table [00:20:01]. George Torres Jr. is still inside [00:20:03].
- Sarah’s State In both videos, Sarah Boone appears to be both unmistakably and heavily intoxicated [00:02:30]. This intoxication may explain why she did not delete the videos [00:02:33].
Sarah Boone’s Reaction During Interrogation
When investigators began questioning Sarah Boone at the Sheriff’s Office, she was unaware of the videos’ existence [00:02:06, 00:02:37, 00:08:51]. She initially claimed to have no recollection of any videos or photos from that day, only remembering taking a picture of a dog [00:17:34].
The investigators then presented the videos to her, which led to a significant shift in the interrogation [00:17:38]. When first shown, Sarah Boone denied remembering them [00:18:12]. As the videos played, showing George Torres Jr. struggling and pleading, she expressed distress, asking “Do I have to watch this?” and stating she didn’t want to see it [00:18:47, 00:18:53].
Contradictions and Interrogation Strategy
The videos directly contradicted Sarah Boone’s initial account of the incident as an unintentional accident or a joke [00:02:03].
- Intentionality vs. Accident Sarah Boone maintained that her plan was “not to go upstairs and go to sleep” and that leaving him in the suitcase was “not intentional” [00:20:12, 00:20:19, 00:21:27]. However, the videos showed her laughing while George Torres Jr. was pleading for air, including one instance where she replied “That’s my name, don’t wear it out” when he called her name [00:22:07, 00:30:34, 00:30:35]. The video also captured her saying “For everything you’ve done to me…” [00:18:14, 00:19:09] and “you stupid, stupid” [00:19:13].
- Lack of Concern The interrogators highlighted that George Torres Jr. was clearly in distress, pushing up on the suitcase and stating “I can’t breathe,” while Sarah Boone was the “only one laughing” and making derogatory comments [00:21:59, 00:22:04, 00:22:07, 00:22:10]. They pressed her on why she didn’t let him out when he was begging [00:25:52, 00:26:08].
- Suitcase Movement Her admission to flipping the suitcase over [00:20:08] further complicated her narrative, as it showed deliberate action while George Torres Jr. was trapped inside [00:20:06].
Implications for the Case
The videos served as powerful evidence of Sarah Boone’s actions and state of mind, severely undermining her claims of an accidental death or a joke gone wrong. Her denials and attempts to deflect blame were directly refuted by the visual and audio evidence [00:29:28, 00:30:31]. The 12-hour gap between the videos and the police arrival also suggested the possibility of her staging the scene to appear more innocent [00:10:21].
Legal Proceedings and Trial Status
Sarah Boone was taken to the Orange County Jail at 5:44 PM and charged with second-degree murder, held without bond [00:36:05, 00:36:09, 00:36:10]. As of the transcript, her trial date was set for April 10th of this year, and she has worked with her seventh attorney, with six having already filed motions to withdraw due to “irreconcilable differences” [00:36:24, 00:36:26, 00:36:32]. The videos are central to the legal proceedings and defense challenges in Sarah Boone’s case.