In brief
Authorities are investigating the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Maria Florinda Rios Perez, who was shot by an Indiana homeowner after mistakenly arriving at the wrong address while working as part of a cleaning crew. Rios Perez's husband witnessed the shooting, which has raised legal questions regarding the use of deadly force under Indiana's castle doctrine laws. The investigation has been handed over to the local prosecutor, who faces a challenging decision on potential charges.
Authorities are considering whether to charge an Indiana homeowner who shot and killed a woman working as a house cleaner after she mistakenly went to the wrong address.
Police officers found 32-year-old Maria Florinda Rios Perez dead just before 7 a.m. Wednesday on the front porch of the home in Whitestown, an Indianapolis suburb of about 10,000 people. She was part of a cleaning crew that had gone to the wrong address, according to a police news release.
Rios Perez’s husband, Mauricio Velazquez, told WRTV in Indianapolis that he and his wife had been working as cleaners for seven months. He said he was standing with her at the front door when he didn't realize she had been shot until she fell into his arms, bleeding.
On a fundraising page, her brother described Rios Perez as a mother of four. The family plans to bury her in Guatemala. The police have not publicly identified the shooter, and the investigation has been handed over to Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood.
The case invokes Indiana's castle doctrine laws, which allow for the use of reasonable force to prevent what one believes to be an unlawful entry. Legal decisions in similar cases have led to charges against individuals who opened fire in similar situations.
Eastwood emphasized the need to review all evidence, including interviews and doorbell footage, to determine what was reasonable at the time of the incident.
