Police said a juvenile suspect was taken into custody after the shooting on Springshire Court.
RALEIGH, N.C. — A 15-year-old boy was shot and killed inside his southeast Raleigh home Friday after a dispute over a pair of jeans, according to his father, who said two teens came to the house for the sale and one opened fire.
The killing has pushed a private family argument into the juvenile justice system and renewed attention on how quickly everyday conflicts among teenagers can turn deadly. Raleigh police said officers responded around 11:50 a.m. to the 1400 block of Springshire Court and found a juvenile male with a gunshot wound. Family members later identified him as Cayden, and police said a juvenile suspect was taken into custody. A juvenile petition has since been filed, though authorities have not publicly named the accused because of the suspect’s age.
CJ Alston said the events started with a plan to sell a pair of jeans. He said his son Cayden had been trying to make the sale when two boys came to the family’s home near Sunnybrook Road. Alston said he had warned Cayden the night before not to invite anyone over because he was on punishment. Even so, the visitors showed up Friday morning. Alston said the exchange turned violent when the boys would not pay and Cayden would not hand over the jeans without payment. “I literally told Cayden that night before,” Alston said, recalling that he told his son he could not have company at the house. A short time later, Alston said, one of the boys shot him inside the home.
Police have released only limited details about the case, saying publicly that officers were called to a shooting and that a juvenile victim later died. Much of the fuller account now in circulation comes from Cayden’s father, who said he reviewed Ring doorbell footage from the home after the shooting. Alston said the video showed the boys outside acting in a way he found suspicious before they entered. He said they appeared focused on getting inside and moved around the property asking questions about the house. According to Alston, the timestamps on the video suggest the encounter unfolded in about 15 minutes, with the boys arriving at 11:36 a.m. and police on scene by 11:51 a.m. Authorities have not publicly released the video, described a weapon, or said whether the suspect and victim had known each other for a long time.
The scene unfolded in a residential cul-de-sac in southeast Raleigh, where neighbors told local news outlets they were struck by the scale of the police response on what they described as a quiet street. Television footage from the area showed officers around a taped-off home and searching nearby on foot. For the family, the location made the violence harder to absorb. Alston said his son was shot in the place where he should have been safest. He also described what he believes happened after the gunfire, saying Cayden moved through parts of the house while wounded, leaving blood in multiple rooms. That account has not been independently detailed by police, but it has shaped the public understanding of the final minutes and the depth of the father’s grief.
The case is now moving through a process that keeps many details out of public view. In North Carolina, juvenile petitions can begin delinquency proceedings without the same level of immediate disclosure that often comes with adult criminal charges. Raleigh police have said only that a juvenile suspect was in custody and that the investigation remained active. By Monday, ABC11 reported that a juvenile petition had been filed against the teen accused of shooting Cayden. It was not clear Monday evening whether prosecutors would seek to move the matter to superior court, where some serious felony cases involving juveniles can later be transferred for adult prosecution. No court date, hearing schedule or charging document with fuller allegations had been publicly released in the reports available Monday.
Alston’s public comments gave the case its human center. He said Cayden was his only child, and he spoke less about the jeans than about the absence now left in the house. “Everything,” Alston said when asked what he would miss most. He then answered his own question with the details that stay with parents after sudden loss: his son’s face, his voice and the everyday conversations that now stop at memory. The father also turned outward, using his grief to speak to other young people about guns and arguments that spin out of control. His remarks did not change the legal questions still facing investigators, but they made clear how ordinary the day had appeared before it ended with sirens, police tape and a juvenile death investigation.
As of Monday night, the victim’s family had publicly identified the boy as Cayden, police had confirmed a juvenile suspect was in custody, and a juvenile petition had been filed. The next milestones are expected to come through juvenile court proceedings and any additional statements from Raleigh police about the investigation.
Author note: Last updated March 24, 2026.