Maria Florinda Rios Perez de Velasquez and her husband Mauricio Velasquez showed up at an address in Whitestown, IN to clear the house. Mauricio had double checked the address for the house cleaning, they walked up to the door, and Maria tried to find the correct key.
“I never thought it was a shot, but I realized when my wife took two steps back,” Velasquez said. “She looked like she’d been hit in the head. She fell into my arms, and I saw that the blood went everywhere.” One news story reports there is a hole through the home’s front door.
The local PD was dispatched before 7am, responding to a possible residential entry in progress, and found Maria on the porch with a gunshot wound. PD attempted lifesaving measures, but Maria was already dead.
Boone County prosecutor Kent Eastwood said Indiana has a relatively strong “stand your ground” law, which allows homeowners to use reasonable and sometimes deadly force to protect their home. “They have no duty to retreat, that’s in the law. That person who uses that force has to reasonably believe that the force is necessary to prevent or terminate an unlawful entry or attack on the person’s dwelling.”
The PD also stated, “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 — placing neither one of them inside the home.
Sources:
This is yet another tragic incident. Mr. Velasquez is understandably upset, calling the homeowner a “dog” at one point, and stating the homeowner was comfortable at home after the event. However, whether the shooting is found justified or not, I suspect the homeowner will be going through personal, legal, and spiritual turmoil. Sunrise at this home is 7:21am, so it likely was dark when the incident occurred, which could have contributed to the homeowner’s fear. However, readers should also be aware of the necessity of clearly identifying the target before shooting. In this particular case, perhaps a porch light, or opening the door while using a weapon mounted light might have been options?
Justified or not? Leave a comment. Are there other lessons here for those who regularly carry firearms? Let me know.
1 Comment
NOT justified. No ones life was in eminent danger or threatening loss of life. Unfortunately the shooter needs to go to jail. Didn’t even know their target through a closed door, so there is no justification to discharge the firearm. These situations give law abiding citizens who know the justification of force laws, and the great responsibility of owning, carrying a firearm. Tragic that someone lost their life for absolutely no reason.