Sarah Boone sentenced to life in prison for boyfriend's murder inside suitcase

Sarah Boone, a 47-year-old Florida woman, was sentenced to life in prison last Monday. In October, a jury found Boone guilty of second-degree murder for stuffing her boyfriend into a suitcase and leaving him inside for hours until he died of asphyxiation.

During the trial, the prosecution charged that the defendant stuffed her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr. into a suitcase. Boone also recorded a video in which she taunted him and kept him imprisoned throughout the night until he died of asphyxiation.

Several of Torres' family members spoke before sentencing about the impact of his death. In a tearful statement, his mother, Blanca Torres said Boone "not only killed my son, she killed a father, a brother, an uncle." by stuffing her boyfriend in a suitcase and leaving him inside for hours until he died.

For her part, Boone's defense focused on portraying her as a woman who suffered from "abused spouse syndrome" and was afraid of Torres as she took the stand. She said Monday that Torres "kicked, punched, spit on, raped, stabbed and choked" her, among other forms of abuse. "I forgive myself for falling in love with a monster," she said. "And despite how grotesque he could be, I still loved, hoped and forgave him."