Name: Indiana house cleaners family demands justice after shooting
Uploaded: 2025-11-08T22:15:52.300Z
Duration: 2 min 29 s
Description: The family of an Indiana house cleaner is demanding justice after the woman died during an apparent mistaken encounter, officials said.

The family of an Indiana house cleaner is demanding justice after the woman died during an apparent mistaken encounter, officials said.

Indiana

Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez, a house cleaner and mother of four, was fatally shot in Whitestown, Indiana, after she and her husband mistakenly tried to enter the wrong home. The homeowner, who remains unidentified, fired a single shot through the front door, killing Velasquez.

Indiana's Castle Doctrine law, which allows residents to use deadly force to prevent unlawful entry, may complicate the decision to file criminal charges. Prosecutors have not yet determined whether charges will be brought, and the case may be presented to a grand jury for further consideration.

Indiana house cleaner's family demands justice after shooting

A member of a house cleaning crew is dead shot in what appears to be a mistaken encounter. Police in Indiana say Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez was shot and killed Wednesday morning when she tried entering the wrong home. Prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge the homeowner who police say pulled the trigger. This happened in Whitestown, a suburb of Indianapolis. And as Lana Zak reports, the state's self-defense laws may make it difficult to file criminal charges. He's demanding justice. Speaking through a translator, Maurizio Velasquez says he watched his wife Maria die Wednesday morning. According to police, the couple worked as a cleaning crew and accidentally tried entering the wrong home. She was shot by a single bullet fired through the front door of the house, killing the mother of four. They should have called the police first instead of just shooting out of nowhere like that. He says it's not good what they did. Police were called with a report of a home invasion, but they confirmed no one ever entered the house. The homeowner who hasn't been identified has not been charged. Prosecutors say the decision to file criminal charges won't be easy. Indiana is one of 31 states with so-called Castle Doctrine laws, allowing a person to use reasonable, even deadly, force to stop what they believe is an unlawful entry to their home. The statute is pretty clear. You have a right to use deadly force to terminate unlawful entry into your dwelling. Similar cases have made headlines in recent years. In 2023, 16-year-old Ralph Yarrow was shot in Kansas City when he went to the wrong address to pick up his younger brothers. The shooter, an elderly man, Andrew Lester, pleaded guilty to assault. The same week as that shooting, 20-year-old Kaitlin Gillis was shot and killed in New York when the car she was in mistakenly turned into the wrong driveway. That shooter, Kevin Monahan, was convicted of second-degree murder. Prosecutors in the Indiana case will have to decide if the shooter was acting reasonably. There's no real clear-cut winner on this. It's almost like a law school exam question. It's designed to have ambiguity. No decision will be made on whether charges will be filed until next week. It's also possible that the case could be sent to a grand jury to decide. For CBS Saturday Morning, I'm Lana Zak.

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