MARICOPA COUNTY, AZ — One of the three defendants in the Mercedes Vega murder case wants to have a separate trial and his release conditions drastically changed.
Court documents obtained by the ABC15 Investigators show prosecutors are asking the judge to deny Jared Gray’s requests.
Cudjoe Young, Sencere Hayes, and Gray are all currently charged with Vega’s brutal murder.
ABC15 sat down with Vega’s father, who says their family is hoping to keep the cases together.
“I couldn't imagine us being put through that once, but not three times or two times,” said Vega’s dad Tom Pillsbury.
MURDER INVESTIGATION
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office believes Vega was taken from her Tempe apartment parking garage in April 2023.
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.
Years prior, Vega had been the victim of an armed robbery in Phoenix.
Her 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.
“We didn't know who Sencere was, and we didn't know who Jared Gray was, but we knew who Cudjoe was,” said Vega’s mom Erika Pillsbury.
It would take years, but by 2025 all three men were charged with Vega’s murder.
At the time, Gray was dealing an unrelated criminal case in Georgia and wasn’t extradited to Arizona until 2026.
Prosecutors filed a motion to seek the death penalty against Young and Hayes.
Their filings for both included an aggravating factor that alleged Vega was killed, possibly to prevent her testimony.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office is not seeking the death penalty in Gray’s case.
This May, Young was convicted of robbing Vega at gunpoint and attempting to rob another woman. He was sentenced to 14 years behind bars for both cases.
While wishing the sentence was longer, the Pillsburys (Vega’s parents) say this is just the beginning. Cudjoe Young has quite a few other cases moving through court including the murder case. @abc15 https://t.co/OuHON79hA8 pic.twitter.com/EFgMeCWAmZ
— Ashley Holden (@ashleyvholden) June 26, 2026
PROSECUTORS OUTLINE EVIDENCE
Newly obtained court filings say prosecutors plan to show Young had motive to kill Vega, while on a GPS monitor awaiting trial in the robbery case.
MCAO alleges Young enlisted Hayes and Gray to carry out the kidnapping and murder.
Prosecutors say flight records, credit card statements, online accounts, and cell data tie Young to the crime.
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Young’s associates allegedly said they had a phone, credit card, and even an apartment in their names that Young had been using.
Investigators believe Hayes and Gray flew to Arizona from Tennessee in March 2023.
A phone listed as a contact for the ticket holders was tracked using cell tower records. Prosecutors say it utilized cell towers in a similar path to that of the Chevy Malibu Vega was found in.
The car was allegedly purchased on Offer-Up mid-March 2023.
Video from Vega’s Tempe apartment complex parking garage shows her leaving, the night of April 16. Prosecutors say she was in the same clothing she was ultimately found in.
In her parking spot, court documents say, police found a broken acrylic nail, an earring, and blood belonging to Vega.
Vega’s car was found about mile away from her apartment. Inside, police found the 22-year-old’s blood and other items of value including Vega’s purse.
Court records say Hayes’ fingerprint was found on a bloody grocery bag inside her car.
The day of the homicide, prosecutors say the Chevy Malibu’s location was tracked via OnStar records. Court documents say the car went to three different addresses, all associated with Young.
The documents say the car was at Vega’s apartment around the time she was kidnapped. After, it allegedly traveled to an area in Queen Creek, west to a Shell station, and finally to the murder scene.
Items recovered from the Chevy Malibu included bleach bottles, lighter fluid, clothing, and McDonald’s cups.
Prosecutors say Hayes’ DNA was identified on clothing found inside along with a McDonald’s cup. As for Gray, court documents say a “latent print” was found on one of the cups.
Court documents say Young’s associates admitted to providing transportation, in both Arizona and Tennessee, and booking a hotel room for Hayes and Gray.
WHATS NEXT IN COURT
The same judge from Young’s armed robbery trial is currently presiding over the murder case.
Judge Mark Brain will hear arguments for both the motion to sever Gray’s case and his request for a bond reduction on Thursday.
“So we're hoping that they deny it and they keep it together, because they've got to understand that we are victims too,” said Vega’s father Tom.
Vega's family is also against a change to Gray's bond and release conditions.
Attorneys for Gray are asking he be released on GPS monitoring with no bond, or his bond be reduced from two million to just $50,000 secured.
The court filing from the 27-year-old's defense team said he is eligible for parole on his out of state offenses.
Gray’s attorneys argue, in court filings, that a separate trial is needed because there is “staggering” evidence against Young and Hayes and “scant” evidence against Gray.
They also brought up timing issues, since prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty against Gray.
“He's saying that the evidence is so overwhelming against the other two that there could be an unintentional rub off effect onto him and he could essentially be found guilty by association,” said Valley attorney and former prosecutor Josh Kolsrud.
Kolsrud is not tied to this case, but sat down with ABC15 to help provide legal context.
“I think that after reading the motion, what the defense is missing is showing exactly how their defense would conflict with the other two defenses,” said Kolsrud. “You have to have more than just saying that the other evidence only implicates those two.”
Prosecutors, in their own filings, asked the judge to deny both requests by Gray.
MCAO said he is supposed to be behind bars in Georgia until 2028 and expressed concerns about the community and witnesses due to the accusations Gray is facing.
They said their presentation of the evidence would be clear and emphasized the difficulty Vega's family would face sitting through multiple trials.
The case is currently not set to head to trial until Fall 2027.
