Jury convicts man for Aurora robbery that terrified mother and children

AURORA | A jury has convicted a man for a 2024 armed robbery and Aurora home invasion that police said was arranged through Facebook Marketplace and carried out in front of a woman’s children.

Frayer Contreras-Gafaro, 24, of Denver, was found guilty this week following a five-day trial in Arapahoe County District Court. The convictions include multiple counts of aggravated robbery, kidnapping and burglary, prosecutors said.

The charges stem from an robbery on the evening of June 12, 2024, when Aurora police responded to a northwest Aurora apartment near East 13th Avenue and Laredo Street. A 33-year-old woman reported she had been robbed inside her apartment after advertising jewelry for sale on Facebook.

Investigators said Contreras-Gafaro and another man went to the apartment pretending to be interested buyers. Once inside, both men pulled out firearms and demanded the jewelry, according to authorities.

The woman’s two children were inside the apartment at the time and were ordered into a nearby room, investigators said. The victim told police the suspects threatened that she would be killed if the children screamed.

Dozens of pieces of jewelry, valued at about $20,000, were taken during the robbery, authorities said.

After the suspects left, the woman noticed the Facebook account she had been communicating with had left the group chat and blocked her. Using her husband’s Facebook account, she was able to locate the profile and identify one of the men involved through photographs, investigators said.

Detectives later identified Contreras-Gafaro as a suspect, prosecutors said.

Contreras-Gafaro faces a maximum possible sentence of 248 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 9, 2026.

Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Johnny Lombardi said the crime went beyond a robbery, describing it as an invasion of a family’s sense of safety. 

Despite police identifying a second suspect during the investigation, prosecutors said Contreras-Gafaro was the only defendant charged and convicted and that there are no other pending court cases linked to the robbery.