Aurora police are investigating, and a family is in mourning after 19-year-old Maritza Cazares was shot and killed on Friday night.
Officers were dispatched to a home in the 400 block of East Benton Street in suburban Aurora at approximately 10:20 p.m. after receiving word that a person had been shot on the front porch of the residence.
When they arrived, they found Cazares, who had been shot multiple times. She was taken to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Police now say that Cazares was not the intended target of the shooting, but they do not believe that the crime was a random incident.
“We are still canvassing the neighborhood, and our detectives are talking to people,” Aurora PD Spokesperson Paris Lewbel said.
Cazares’ family tells NBC 5 that she was the middle child of five, and that she loved to play soccer and spend time with her friends.
Local
“She was an athlete and a great soccer player, and she loved her city,” her soccer coach said.
Cazares was with a group of friends at the time of the shooting, but they are unsure of why she was at the home where she was shot.
Detectives are asking anyone with information on the shooting to call Aurora police at 630-256-5500, or to call Crimestoppers to leave an anonymous tip at 630-892-1000.
