Community wants 'justice for María' after house cleaner killed going to wrong address

A vigil to demand justice for 32-year-old María Florinda Ríos Pérez de Velásquez, a house cleaner who was shot and killed last week in Whitestown, was held Monday night in Lebanon. Friends and family organized the gathering to honor her life, call for accountability and raise awareness about gun violence. 

Ríos Pérez’s family and friends gathered on the steps of the Boone County prosecutor’s office. After sharing “conchas,” or sweet breads, and hot beverages, they displayed a large portrait of Ríos Pérez, laid bouquets of flowers, and a Guatemalan flag with the words “Justicia Para Maria!” 

The crowd of around 90 people broke into occasional chants in Spanish: “The people united, justice for Maria” and “No justice, no peace.”

Mauricio Velázquez, Ríos Pérez’s husband, and her father spoke at the emotional gathering that included prayers and other speakers in Spanish. The family are demanding the prosecutor file charges against the person who shot Ríos Pérez. 

A petition on Change.org with around 2,000 urged the prosecutor’s office to press charges. 

It said she was shot “through a closed front door while standing on the porch of what she believed was a home she was hired to clean.”

Mauricio Velázquez, her husband, told the Indianapolis Star that she had not used the key yet when he heard the gunshot. She dropped the keys, and as she fell he moved to catch her.

Two online fundraisers, including one by her brother Rudy Ríos, have each raised over $100,000 for legal fees and to “send her body back to her country of origin.” The petition said her four children range from a baby about to turn 1 to a 17-year-old.

Whitestown police said that around 6:49 a.m. on Nov. 5, officers responded to a 911 call reporting a possible residential entry in progress at a home in the Heritage subdivision. When they arrived, officers found Ríos Pérez with a gunshot wound on the front porch alongside an adult male. 

Officers attempted life-saving measures, but determined she was already dead. 

“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,” said a police statement on social media on the day of the incident. 

The police department has not released the name of the homeowner, citing the complexity of the case and saying that it could be dangerous.

In a statement on Sunday, the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office said it is reviewing evidence from police and cannot legally share details of the case while that review is underway.

The shooting has drawn national attention and is similar to recent cases in which people who went to the wrong address were shot by homeowners who said they believed they were under threat.

Indiana law allows citizens to defend their homes and other property without a duty to retreat. It allows for deadly force if a person reasonably believes it necessary to prevent injury or a felony.“ Indiana’s Stand Your Ground law and the unique circumstances of this case make a careful, detailed review essential before determining what steps we may take next,” according to the statement.

Boone County Prosecutor Kent T. Eastwood will decide whether to file charges after his office completes its review of the evidence, which is expected by the end of this week or early next week.

Contact WFYI reporter Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.