A homeowner in Indiana has been charged with voluntary manslaughter after fatally shooting a cleaner who arrived at the wrong address. Curt Anderson, the accused, could face 10 to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Police found Maria Florinda Rios Perez De Velasquez, 32, dead on the front porch of a home in Whitestown, near Indianapolis, on 5 November. The Guatemalan immigrant was part of a cleaning crew that had mistakenly gone to the wrong house.
Her husband told media that he was with her on the porch when someone fired through the front door. He did not realise she had been shot until she fell back into his arms, bleeding.
Indiana is one of 31 states with a stand-your-ground law, which permits homeowners to use deadly force if they believe someone is trying to unlawfully enter their dwelling. However, police said there is no evidence the woman entered the home before she was shot.
The case echoes a 2023 incident in Missouri, where an 86-year-old man shot Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black teenager who came to his door by mistake. That shooter 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 a woman who mistakenly drove down his driveway.
