A woman working as a house cleaner attempted to enter the wrong location and was shot dead by the homeowner.
Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez and her husband were on their way to a private residence in Whitestown, Indiana, to clean it on Wednesday, November 5. Her brother Rudy Rios told NBC News that she was shot in the head after attempting to open the door using a key.
Rios stated that de Velasquez then “fell into the arms of her husband,” She was 32 years old and had immigrated from Guatemala.
“It’s quite unjust. “She was just trying to bring home the daily bread to support her family,” Rios told the newspaper. “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 but those keys,” he stated, revealing that his late sister was the mother of four children ranging in age from one to seventeen.
An autopsy was performed on de Velasquez’s body, and her death was deemed a homicide due to the gunshot wound to the head, according to Boone County Coroner Justin Sparks, who spoke with local ABC station WRTV.
However, Sparks clarified that the designation does not guarantee that the gunman will face criminal charges. “It has no influence. It is a classification of the way of dying. No implication in the criminal realm.”
PEOPLE has contacted both 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,” says Sparks.
“We’re just trying to figure out what happened and, if applicable, what charges there will be,” Whitestown Metropolitan Police Department Captain John Yurkosh told WTHR. “This is still very fresh.”
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, putting neither of them inside the house.
“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 police report added.
The WMPD said there is an ongoing inquiry. The shooter has yet to be publicly named.
