ORLANDO, Fla. — Jurors expected to begin deliberating the fate of accused suitcase killer Sarah Boone on Friday evening will have additional options for convicting her besides the second-degree murder charge that put her on trial.

Boone, 47, charged in the February 2020 suffocation death of boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr., 42, inside a suitcase, faces life in prison if convicted — with a minimum of 22½ years behind bars.

The prosecution and defense agreed in the morning that the jury would be instructed that it could convict Boone on lesser charges of manslaughter or culpable negligence. The week before trial, Boone rejected a plea deal sentencing her to 15 years in prison for manslaughter.

Jurors begin deliberations after the conclusion of closing arguments late Friday afternoon.

The jury normally is allowed to deliberate until 9 p.m., but Orange County Circuit Court Judge Michael Kraynick got permission from the chief judge to allow it to go later if needed — including past 10 p.m. If the jury doesn’t reach a verdict Friday night it will resume deliberations Monday.

The defense and prosecution did have disagreements over some instructions for the jury — including one relating to a fundamental difference between arguments made in the case by the prosecution and defense: Who was the initial aggressor?

Assistant State Attorney William Jay said Boone was the initial aggressor, not Torres, according to her own testimony in court. She previously testified Torres willingly allowed her to zip him inside the dark teal soft-sided suitcase after he got in it during a drunken game of hide-and-seek. However, Torres began saying he couldn’t breathe and begged to be freed, after which Boone began taunting him, which she recorded video of on her cellphone.

Boone testified Torres began threatening her after the video ended and he tried to get out of the suitcase, causing her to become fearful and hit his hand and the suitcase with a baseball bat before eventually going upstairs and falling asleep.

Jay said Boone had a duty to retreat before using deadly force against him because she was the initial aggressor. But Tony Henderson, one of Boone’s attorneys, said Torres consented to being placed in the suitcase and placing him in it was not aggression on her part.

However, Jay said initial consent doesn’t matter because Torres later wanted out and Boone refused. He likened her keeping him trapped to a wrestler continuing a match after the partner taps out.

He also said her action was aggravated assault and that he also would’ve charged Boone with aggravated battery if the statute of limitations hadn’t passed.

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