A house cleaner and mother of four died in the arms of her husband on Wednesday after she was fatally shot to death outside a home near Indianapolis after they mistakenly arrived at the wrong address, the woman’s brother told NBC News.
Maria Florinda Rios Perez, a 32-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, was headed to work cleaning a home with her husband in Whitestown, Indiana, on Wednesday morning when they arrived at the wrong house, Rudy Rios said in Spanish.
Rios, 22, said when his sister had just arrived at the house, she tried to open the door using keys she was carrying when she was shot in the head and “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 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.
Rios said his sister is a mother of four whose children range in age from one to 17 years old.
“They’re completely destroyed,” he said.
Officers responded to a 911 call in Whitestown, reporting a "'possible" residential entry in progress at a home in the Heritage subdivision" at 6:49 a.m., according to a police 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.
Lifesaving measures were attempted on the woman, but she was declared dead at the scene, police said.
"It was later determined that the individuals attempting to enter the home were members of a cleaning crew who had mistakenly arrived at the wrong address," according to the Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department statement.
Investigators quickly concluded this was not a home invasion or a burglary. Police confirmed this was an isolated incident.
"The loss of life is always a profound tragedy, and our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected," police said.
Police pleaded with the public not to rush to any conclusions as they and Boone County prosecutors try to determine if a crime was committed.
"We understand that incidents like this can cause concern and speculation," police 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."
Indiana has relatively strong "stand your ground" protections for homeowners to defend their dwellings against threats, Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood said.
"When it comes to a dwelling, individuals can use reasonable force, including deadly force, against another person," 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."
Rios said his family wants the person who fatally shot his sister be arrested, charged and brought to justice for the sake of his family and “because tomorrow there could be more victims like this.”
He said he believed his sister was killed at a time when there is increased racial profiling of Latinos and hatred towards immigrants.
“She had no bad intentions,” he said.
The family now has to raise money to support Maria Florinda’s children and send her body to her native Guatemala for burial, he said.
He said he wanted people to remember his sister as someone who was “very loving, humble, happy” and dedicated to her family.
“He could have given her a warning, but instead he killed her,” he said through tears.
