A cleaning woman was shot through a door and died in her husband’s arms after arriving at the wrong house by mistake, police have said.
Maria Florinda Rios Perez, a 32-year-old mother of four, had tried to open the door of the property in Whiteshead, Indiana, using her keys when she was shot in the head, her brother told NBC News.
Officers from the Whiteshead Police Department responded Wednesday morning at just before 7 a.m. to reports of a possible residential entry in progress.
Upon arrival, officers found an adult female, later identified as Perez, with a gunshot wound and her husband on the front porch of the residence. She was moved to a safe area but was later pronounced dead at the scene.
WPD later determined that the pair were members of a cleaning crew who had mistakenly arrived at the wrong address for work.
“The loss of life is always a profound tragedy, and our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected,” the force said in a statement.
“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.”
Perez’s brother, Rudy Rios, 22, said after being shot, his sister “fell into the arms of her husband.” “It’s so unjust. She was only trying to bring home the daily bread to support her family,” Rios told NBC News in Spanish.
“She accidentally went to the wrong house, but he shouldn’t have taken her life. She wasn’t threatening, she had nothing in her hands, only those keys.”
Indiana has relatively strong "Stand Your Ground" laws, which protect homeowners by allowing them to defend their residences against perceived threats.
"When it comes to a dwelling, individuals can use reasonable force, including deadly force, against another person," Boone County prosecutor Kent Eastwood told NBC News.
"They have no duty to retreat, that's in the law. That person who uses that force has to reasonably believe that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate an unlawful entry or attack on the person's dwelling."
However, Rios said he and his family want the person responsible for Perez’s death to be brought to justice, adding that he believed his sister had been killed during a time when anti-immigrant sentiment is rising.
“She had no bad intentions,” he said.
Investigations into the “complex” incident are ongoing, WPD said, adding that the next official update was likely to come next week.
“We understand that incidents like this can cause concern and speculation,” the department said.
“We respectfully ask the public to place their trust in the investigative process and refrain from sharing unverified information. These cases are often complex and require time to fully understand. Misinformation can be harmful to those involved and to the integrity of the investigation.”
