PHOENIX — Deliberations will begin on Wednesday in an armed robbery trial with a connection to a high-profile murder case.
Cudjoe Young is accused of an armed robbery and another attempted armed robbery, both in 2020. One of those victims was Mercedes Vega.
Years later, Vega was found murdered in April 2023.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office believes Vega was taken from her Tempe apartment parking garage. She was later found in a burning Chevy Malibu off I-10 near Tonopah.
The medical examiner's report said the 22-year-old had blunt force injuries, was shot in the arm, and was found with bleach in her throat.
Young is now one of three charged with Vega's murder.
Vega's parents told ABC15 that robbery prompted their daughter to move to that new apartment in Tempe.
Court records say she picked Young out of a photo lineup before her murder. Her family also told ABC15 that she had prepared a victim impact statement before she was killed.
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Prosecutors filed a motion to seek the death penalty against Cudjoe Young and his codefendant, Sencere Hayes. Their filings for both Young and Hayes included an aggravating factor that alleges Vega was killed, possibly to prevent her testimony.
"The defendant committed the offense to prevent Victim M. Vega’s cooperation with an official law enforcement investigation, to prevent her testimony in a court proceeding, or in retaliation for her cooperation with an official law enforcement investigation," says the court filing.
The robbery trial, after years of delays, started on May 12.
Body camera video of Vega speaking to police back in 2020 was played in court.
"I got out of the car, and he came out with a gun," said Vega. "And he was, he told me to unlock my phone. And he was on top of me, and then he took my bag. And my bag has my keys and all my money and like all my stuff."
On the second day of trial, prosecutors played the 911 call made by the other woman whom Young is accused of attempting to rob.
The second victim danced at the same club as Vega.
"Someone, like a man, came around the corner from like another car, pulled a gun on me, and told me to unlock my phone," said the other victim.
She told police she was in her apartment parking garage when this happened and was able to get help from another resident driving by.
"He wasn't the guy with the gun," said Young's attorney, Candice Shoemaker, during opening statements.
They pushed back on the prosecutor's claims that Young's Cash App account, car, and other digital evidence tie him to these crimes.
On Tuesday, after weeks in trial, both sides gave their closing arguments.
"The state has given you a lot," said Shoemaker. "They’ve given you a lot of distractions. They’ve given you a lot of questionable circumstances, but what they haven’t given you is actual firm evidence that Cudjoe was the robber in this case."
Prosecutors laid out the different pieces of evidence in a PowerPoint presentation.
"The defendant wants you to believe someone else committed these crimes," said prosecutor Heather Livingstone. "But the evidence in this case is overwhelming, and all of it points to one person, the defendant."
The jury got the case on Tuesday afternoon and will return at 10:30 a.m. to deliberate.
The murder case is currently set to go to trial in 2027.
