An Indiana man was charged Monday with involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Guatemalan immigrant woman he shot after she mistakenly came over to clean his home, the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Curt Andersen, 62, was arrested and has been in custody without bail since Monday, charged in connection with the death of Maria Florinda Rios Perez, 32, who was shot Nov. 5 in Whitestown, a city northwest of Indianapolis, Indiana, where she regularly worked cleaning houses.
Murderer of María Florinda Ríos Pérez charged with murder
María Florinda Ríos Pérez and her husband, Mauricio Velásquez, worked for a cleaning company that gave them the wrong address for a house they were to clean.
She approached the door and was shot in the head by the defendant who, according to the initial investigation, said he felt threatened by the woman’s presence.
Police responded to the home in the Heritage development after receiving a call about a possible home invasion. When they arrived, officers found the Guatemalan woman dead on the porch of the house.
Andersen “had no reasonable grounds to believe that kind of force was necessary, given the facts,” Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood said in remarks quoted by NBC News.
The prosecutor clarified that the accusation against Andersen should not be interpreted in any way “as a challenge” to the Indiana law guaranteeing the right to self-defense.
Eastwood indicated that the indictment was handed down after review of the evidence and particular circumstances of the case.
Ríos Pérez’s family has demanded justice for the death of the woman, who had not entered the house.
Velasquez told WCNC television that he held his wife’s lifeless and bloody body while the police arrived. “I ask for justice because the person who did that I don’t think is right in the head,” the immigrant stressed in tears.
For his part, Guy Relford, Andersen’s defense attorney, said in an X message that his client acted within the bounds of Indiana law.
“That law permits the use of reasonable force, including deadly force, if a person reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent an unlawful entry into his or her home,” Relford stated.
The attorney, known for his Second Amendment advocacy on his weekly ‘Gun Guy’ show on WIBC television, said the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office is unfairly prosecuting Andersen’s actions based on facts of which the defendant was unaware.
Relford called the immigrant’s death a terrible tragedy.
The Guatemalan woman had emigrated with her family three years ago to the United States. Ríos Pérez leaves behind four orphaned children, ranging in age from 11 months to 17 years old.
Andersen is expected to appear at a hearing this week to request bail pending trial.
With information from EFE
