Maria Florinda Ríos Pérez shot dead by Indiana homeowner in Whitestown as house-cleaner tried to enter ‘wrong’ home. Victim’s husband now demands justice.
Shoot first, ask questions later….? A house cleaner was shot and killed by an Indiana homeowner after entering the ‘wrong home’ early Wednesday morning according to local officials.
Maria Florinda Ríos Pérez, 32, and her husband, Mauricio Velázquez had arrived at a residence in Whitestown believing it to be the one the contracting self employed cleaning duo had been hired to clean. But it wasn’t.
It was as Rios Perez ‘a hardworking mother of four,’ according to a fundraising page attempted to enter the home just before dawn on Wednesday, November 5 that the homeowner fired at what they believed to be an intruder attempting to enter their home.
Victim’s husband says homeowner should have called cops
According to a press release from the Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department a 911 call was made about a ‘possible break-in.’ Responding officers found a woman suffering from a gunshot wound on the front porch of the home. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the victim’s husband who was standing next to Rios Perez, ‘She didn’t even put the key in when I heard the shot happen,’ the man told the Indianapolis Star.
‘I saw my wife had stepped back twice, and then the keys dropped. Then she dropped, and I went to catch her. I was trying to console her and tell her everything was going to OK, but I was seeing the blood coming out,’ the husband said.
Added the grieving husband, ‘For me, she was the love of my life. She was a good wife and a good mother.’
Velázquez told the IndyStar he is demanding justice, saying the shooter should have called police instead of firing the fatal shot.
Was the house owner in any immediate danger? Will prosecutors file charges?
‘They should’ve called the police first instead of just shooting out of nowhere like that,’ said Velazquez. ‘He shouldn’t be taking lives of people like that because now he has to raise four kids by himself.’
Police described the shooting as an ‘isolated incident’ with the tragedy remaining under investigation. Police were working with the Boone County Prosecutor’s office to determine if the shooting was justified.
To date prosecutors declined to file charges against the homeowner, who remained un-identified.
Stated police in part, ‘WMPD is committed to conducting a thorough and impartial investigation. Our detectives are interviewing all individuals involved, and our crime scene investigators are meticulously collecting and analyzing all relevant evidence to understand the full scope of what occurred.’
Loved ones knew Rios Perez ‘as a beacon of kindness, humility and strength,’ according to the GoFundMe. ‘She worked tirelessly to support her loved ones, often taking extra jobs to provide a better life for her children,’ the fundraiser states. ‘Friends and coworkers remember her infectious smile, her laughter, and the way she always made time to help others — even when life was hard. Her heart was as big as her dreams for her family.’
As of Thursday afternoon the fundraiser had raised $37,800.
Ríos Pérez is originally from Quetzaltenango in Guatemala. That’s where she and Velázquez met, and the couple had only been in Indianapolis with their family for one year.
Meanwhile, the family is trying to repatriate her body back home to Guatemala.
Whitestown is about a 20-mile drive northwest from downtown Indianapolis.
