Guatemalan Woman Killed in Indiana Back in Guatemala
GUATEMALA CITY — An Indiana homeowner shot and killed María Florinda Ríos Pérez, a 32-year-old Guatemalan mother of four, after she went to clean the wrong house.
On Sunday, her family received her body at the airport in Guatemala and prepared to take her to her hometown of Cabrican, about 125 miles west of the capital.
On November 5, Ríos was shot in the head on a Whitestown porch. Homeowner Curt Andersen faces voluntary manslaughter charges; his trial starts March 30, and bail is $25,000.
Court records show Ríos and her husband worked as part of a house-cleaning crew and mistakenly went to Andersen’s home. As they tried to unlock the door with a company key, Andersen shot her. Her husband escaped unharmed. Andersen told investigators he believed someone was breaking into his house.
Rios’ 19-year-old sister, Yeimy, said María left Guatemala two years ago with two daughters, hiring a smuggler after hearing adults with children could enter the U.S. She went to Indiana to join five siblings and their father.
