Surrounded by his children, the husband of a mother of four who was fatally shot in Indiana after arriving at the wrong address for a house-cleaning appointment spoke of his family’s anguish — and demanded the person responsible face justice and be charged in her death.
“Seeing my wife in my arms, already lifeless, covered in blood, I felt like they tore everything from me,” Mauricio Velásquez told Telemundo in Spanish at a memorial for his wife, Maria Florinda Rios Perez, describing the moment after she was shot in front of his eyes.
“It’s very painful and very unfortunate,” he said tearfully, “because they shouldn’t have taken her life away that way.”
Rios Perez, a 32-year-old Guatemalan immigrant, was killed on Wednesday morning after she and her husband mistakenly went to the door of the wrong home in anticipation of a day’s work as house cleaners, her family told NBC News and Telemundo.
Rios Perez was a devoted mother to her four children, the oldest of whom is 17 while the youngest is 11 months old, Velásquez said.
As he spoke, one of the girls leaned her head on the shoulder of her sister as they both cried.
“It’s not possible that he is free, meanwhile the children are suffering,” Velásquez said.
Officers with the Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department responded to a 911 call Wednesday reporting a “‘possible’ residential entry in progress at a home in the Heritage subdivision,” according to a statement.
At the home, officers found “an adult female who sustained a gunshot wound, along with an adult male on the front porch of the residence,” police said, adding they attempted lifesaving measures but the woman was declared dead at the scene.
According to the statement, it was later determined “the individuals attempting to enter the home were members of a cleaning crew who had mistakenly arrived at the wrong address,” and it had not been a home invasion or a burglary.
The department said Friday afternoon that it had submitted the case to the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review.
The Boone County Coroner’s Office determined the manner of death in the case as a homicide, police said, adding that it was “important to clarify that the term ‘homicide’ is a medical classification indicating that one human being caused the death of another. This designation does not imply criminal intent or legal culpability, and it should not be interpreted as a criminal finding.”
At the memorial, Rios Perez’s cousin Wilmer Alvarez said through tears in Spanish that if the shooter felt threatened, they could have immobilized her or taken other action instead of killing her.
“The only thing the family is demanding is justice for that coward, because that coward is one of the worst kinds of people there can be here,” he said.
Rudy Rios, the younger brother of Rios Perez, previously told NBC News he wanted people to remember his sister as someone who was “very loving, humble, happy” and dedicated to her family.
“It’s so unjust. She was only trying to bring home the daily bread to support her family,” Rios said. “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,” he said.
According to Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood, under Indiana’s “stand your ground” protections, individuals can use “reasonable force, including deadly force,” against another person to defend their dwellings against threats.
“As a prosecutor, we will review the evidence, try to determine what the distinct and specific facts are of this case, and we’ll apply it to Indiana law to determine whether or not criminal charges are appropriate,” Eastwood told NBC News on Friday.
Velásquez said beyond the love his wife gave him, her “greatest gift” was their children. “I’m going to fight for them,” he said.
