Indiana Woman Fatally Shot When Showing Up at Wrong Home Address for Cleaning Duties
Authorities in Indiana are considering possible criminal charges against a homeowner who allegedly fatally shot a woman when she accidentally arrived to the wrong location where she believed scheduled to clean a home.
Officers found Maria Florinda Rios Perez De Velasquez, aged 32, deceased early Wednesday morning on the front porch of a home in a suburban town, a community of approximately 10,000 people outside Indianapolis.
She was part of a cleaning crew that had arrived at the incorrect house, according to police in a press statement.
Authorities have not publicly identified the person who fired, but police submitted the results from the probe to the Boone County prosecutor, the county prosecutor, on Friday afternoon.
This case will highlight Indiana’s self-defense statutes, which allow a person to use lethal force to prevent what they reasonably believe is an illegal entry into their dwelling.
But the shooting has stunned the community. Rios Perez’s husband, her husband, told WRTV that he was standing with her at the front door but didn’t realize she had been shot until she fell into his arms, injured. On a online donation site, her brother mentioned that Rios Perez was a parent to four children.
Thirty-one states have similar laws like Indiana’s in place, as reported by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
In similar cases in other states, prosecutors have filed criminal charges against individuals who used a firearm outside their homes, such as a guilty plea by an elderly man who shot Ralph Yarl when the teen approached his home accidentally. In another state, a man was convicted of second-degree murder for killing a woman in a vehicle who entered his driveway by mistake.
The incident highlights continuing discussions about stand-your-ground statutes and how they are applied in everyday situations.