NEED TO KNOW
- A woman was shot and killed after she attempted to enter the wrong house while working as a house cleaner
- Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez was a 32-year-old mother of four
- Her manner of death was ruled a homicide after she died of a gunshot wound to the head; the shooter is yet to be identified
A woman working as a house cleaner entered the wrong address and was shot and killed by the homeowner.
Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez was heading to the private residence alongside her husband to clean the home in Whitestown, Ind., on the morning of Wednesday, Nov. 5. She tried to open the door using a key and was promptly shot in the head, her brother Rudy Rios told NBC News.
De Velasquez then “fell into the arms of her husband,” Rios said. She was 32 and an immigrant from Guatemala.
“It’s so unjust. She was only trying to bring home the daily bread to support her family,” Rios told the outlet. “She accidentally went to the wrong house, but he shouldn’t have taken her life.”
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“She wasn’t threatening, she had nothing in her hands, only those keys,” he added, also confirming that his late sister was a mother to four children, whose ages ranged from 1 to 17.
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An autopsy was performed on de Velasquez’s body, and her manner of death was ruled a homicide due to the gunshot wound to the head, Boone County Coroner Justin Sparks confirmed to local ABC affiliate WRTV.
However, the classification does not necessarily mean that the shooter will be criminally charged, Sparks said. “It has no impact. It is a classification of manner of death. No implication in the criminal realm.”
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PEOPLE has reached out to the Boone County Coroner and the Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department.
“Homicide in the context means the death was caused by a volitional act by another person, not necessarily implying criminal intent,” Sparks continued.
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“We are just trying to unravel what exactly happened and, if applicable, what charges there would be,” Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department Captain John Yurkosh told WTHR. “This is still very fresh.”
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In a statement shared on social media, the WMPD wrote, “The facts gathered do not support that a residential entry occurred,” and confirmed that de Velasquez died at the scene, and her husband was on the porch of the residence as she attempted to fit the key in the door — placing neither one of them inside the home.
“Officers acted quickly to secure the home, and get the female moved to a safe location to attempt life-saving measures, but it was discovered she was already deceased upon the officers’ arrival,” the statement continued.
The WMPD confirmed it is an open investigation. The shooter is yet to be publicly identified.
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