'Senseless and Cruel': Mum-of-Four Killed After Accidentally Arriving at Wrong Home for Cleaning Job

A 32-year-old Guatemalan mother of four was shot dead on the front porch of an Indiana home on 5 November after mistakenly arriving at the wrong address for a house-cleaning appointment. Maria Florinda Rios Perez De Velasquez never entered the property before homeowner Curt Andersen, 58, fired a single bullet through his front door, striking her in the head as her husband stood beside her.

Andersen was charged with voluntary manslaughter on Monday after prosecutors determined his actions fell outside the protections of Indiana's stand-your-ground law.

What Happened That Morning

Rios Perez and her husband Mauricio Velasquez arrived at a home on Maize Lane in Whitestown, an Indianapolis suburb, shortly before 7am. She was employed by Ryan Homes as part of a cleaning crew scheduled to clean a model home elsewhere in the Heritage subdivision. According to court documents, Velasquez told officers he never heard voices from inside the home and that neither he nor his wife banged or knocked on the door. He said he didn't notice the house numbers were different from those their boss had sent.

Surveillance footage and court documents reveal Andersen fired through his front door without warning. Velasquez didn't immediately realise his wife had been shot.

Officers found a large pool of blood on the front porch, a bullet hole in the front door, and Velasquez kneeling whilst holding his wife. An autopsy revealed she died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Court documents say Andersen initially refused to leave his home after the shooting, forcing Velasquez to move his wife's body to a 'safer location toward the street'.

The Legal Questions

Indiana is one of 31 states with a stand-your-ground law that permits homeowners to use deadly force to stop someone they believe is trying to unlawfully enter their dwelling. However, Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood stressed that 'based upon the particular evidence and circumstances of this case, we have determined that Curt Andersen's actions do not fall within the legal protections provided by Indiana's "Stand Your Ground" law'.

Police found no evidence Rios Perez ever entered the home. Andersen's defence attorney Guy Relford has vowed to prove in court that his client's actions were 'fully justified by the "castle doctrine" provision' and that Andersen 'had every reason to believe his actions were absolutely necessary'.

A Pattern of Tragedy

The case mirrors a 2023 Missouri incident when 86-year-old Andrew Lester shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl after the Black teenager came to his door by mistake. Missouri has a similar stand-your-ground law, but prosecutors charged Lester, who ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree assault. In New York, which lacks a stand-your-ground law, a man was convicted of second-degree murder in 2024 for fatally shooting Kaylin Gillis, a woman inside a car who mistakenly pulled into his driveway.

A Community Responds

Rios Perez leaves behind four children aged 17 years to 11 months. A GoFundMe campaign organised by her brother Rudy Rios has raised over $120,000 to transport her body to Guatemala and hire legal representation. 'It's not fair that they took the life of a mother of four, leaving her children orphaned', the campaign states. 'We want justice, from the bottom of our hearts'.