An Indiana man who shot and killed a cleaning woman who showed up at his house by accident has been charged with voluntary manslaughter.
Curt Anderson, 62, faces 10 to 30 years in prison for the shooting death of Maria Florinda Rios Perez De Velasquez, 32. Velasquez, a mother of four, was part of a cleaning crew that arrived at Anderson's home by mistake. Anderson shot her through the front door, KLTV reported.
Although Anderson has asserted he acted in self-defense based on Indiana's stand your ground law, Boone County prosecutor Kent Eastwood said Anderson's actions were not legally justified, according to ABC News.
"It's our contention that the person did not have a reasonable belief that that type of force was necessary, given all the facts that he had at that time," Eastwood said, according to ABC News.
The incident unfolded at about 6:49 a.m. when the Whitestown police department received a 911 call of a "possible" home invasion.
Officers found Velasquez with a fatal gunshot wound and determined the bullet had been fired through the front door.
Anderson and his wife were asleep when they heard a commotion at the front door, according to court documents cited by KLTV. The station reported that Anderson said he saw two people by the front door and believed they were trying to enter the home. He retrieved his gun and fired it from the top of the stairs through the front door.
Eastwood told ABC News that people in the community had reached out to the prosecutor, offering support "because we know you have a difficult decision to make."
"Honestly, it wasn't," Eastman told ABC News. "I hate to sound cavalier about this, but it wasn't a hard decision."
However, Anderson's attorney said the charges were not justified.
"Contrary to the contention of the prosecutor -- and without discussing the specific facts of the case -- we believe Mr. Andersen had every reason to believe his actions were absolutely necessary and fully justified at the time," attorney, Guy Relford, said in a statement to ABC News. "We also believe that Mr. Andersen's actions are being unfairly judged based on facts that were unknowable to him as events unfolded that early morning."
"The law does not allow a criminal conviction based on hindsight," the statement reads. "Instead, Mr. Andersen's actions must be evaluated based on the circumstances as he perceived them. For all these reasons, the castle doctrine clearly applies and I look forward to defending Mr. Andersen in court."
