Victim seeks justice against armed intruder
Updated: January 25, 2013
DECATUR -- An armed robber might have scared most average moms, but it kicked this one into action. Police say a man burst through the door of a home and held the woman and her 4-year old daughter at gunpoint. WCIA-3's Steve Staeger finds out how the angry, determined mom helped lead police to a suspect they're questioning.
It started as a typical Wednesday for Amy Mazzotti. She was cutting hair in her home, a part-time job, when suddenly, "I hear a knock at the front door. I go to the front door and, when I open it, I crack it a little and didn't recognize the guy and said, 'can I help you?' He shoved the door open and held me at gunpoint."
Before she knew it, the man was pointing a gun at her and her daughter.
"He kept saying, 'where's the money at? where's this at? where's that at?' and I'm like, 'we have nothing.'"
The suspect forced them upstairs and made them lay on the bed. Then, he looted the downstairs, grabbing cash, video games and jewelry. Before he ran away with all of it, he said something this mom will never forget.
"He came back upstairs, threatened our lives, said if we call the cops, he'll have us killed. I called news stations. I called everybody. I put it on Facebook. I put detailed descriptions. I put everything."
That's why she called us.
"If my face is on TV, good, if his face is on TV, better, and that's what's about to happen. We got him."
It may not be your typical response, especially when someone threatens your life, but Amy says she had to do it.
"If I can get this out there for people and they don't have to deal with what I just dealt with and what my daughter just dealt with, then that's what I'm going to do."
And she has a message for the guy who did this.
"You have the nerve to come to my house, hold my daughter and me at gunpoint? That's a death sentence."
Police made an arrest in the case. 21-year old Tyler McCormick is being questioned and could face home invasion charges.
It started as a typical Wednesday for Amy Mazzotti. She was cutting hair in her home, a part-time job, when suddenly, "I hear a knock at the front door. I go to the front door and, when I open it, I crack it a little and didn't recognize the guy and said, 'can I help you?' He shoved the door open and held me at gunpoint."
Before she knew it, the man was pointing a gun at her and her daughter.
"He kept saying, 'where's the money at? where's this at? where's that at?' and I'm like, 'we have nothing.'"
The suspect forced them upstairs and made them lay on the bed. Then, he looted the downstairs, grabbing cash, video games and jewelry. Before he ran away with all of it, he said something this mom will never forget.
"He came back upstairs, threatened our lives, said if we call the cops, he'll have us killed. I called news stations. I called everybody. I put it on Facebook. I put detailed descriptions. I put everything."
That's why she called us.
"If my face is on TV, good, if his face is on TV, better, and that's what's about to happen. We got him."
It may not be your typical response, especially when someone threatens your life, but Amy says she had to do it.
"If I can get this out there for people and they don't have to deal with what I just dealt with and what my daughter just dealt with, then that's what I'm going to do."
And she has a message for the guy who did this.
"You have the nerve to come to my house, hold my daughter and me at gunpoint? That's a death sentence."
Police made an arrest in the case. 21-year old Tyler McCormick is being questioned and could face home invasion charges.
