Colorado mother asks for community help finding her teenage son's killer

Cayden Mazzotti's mother says on the evening of July 19, 2025, she and her 16-year-old son had a disagreement about how he should be spending his time and with whom. The Colorado mom wanted him home in Arvada, but he left with some friends without her knowing.

"And we argued back and forth through text. And the last thing he said to me was, 'Mom, I promise I'll be home in the morning,'" she said. She wishes to remain anonymous for her own safety.

The next morning he didn't come home.

So, his mother followed his tracker to his last known location: the 16000 block of East Bails Place in Aurora. That's when she learned there had been a house party on the block the night before.

"His dad was going door to door asking people about the party and all that, and people were like, 'Well, there was an ambulance and police cars and there was a body,' but, you know, it didn't even register at that point to me that that was him," she said.

Later that day she would learn from Aurora police that her son was likely shot at that house party. Aurora police say they responded there to a call of shots fired. They say they found multiple shell casing in the street. They say a short time later Cayden was dropped off half a mile away near East Mexico Drive and East Oregon Drive suffering from a gunshot wound. A juvenile female was with him seeking help. Police believe they may have been transported there in a white Ford F-150 pickup truck.

Cayden later died from his injuries.  

His mother says it flipped her world upside down.

"Trying to learn how to live without him has been difficult," she said.

This was one of two fatal house party shootings in the area in eight days. In both cases, a teenage boy was killed. On July 13, Aurora teen Silverio (Silver) Suniga was killed at a house party in Arapahoe County. Then Cayden was killed on July 20. Nearly one later, no one has been arrested for Cayden's murder.

Cayden's mom says if you know something, say something.

"We just we need to be able to rest. And we can't do that," she said.

Aurora police released a Crime Stoppers alert on Wednesday offering a reward for information leading to an arrest.

If you know anything about this case and haven't spoken to investigators yet, call Aurora police or Metro Denver Crimestoppers.