Overview
- Maricopa County filed formal notices to seek death sentences for Sencere Hayes, 23, and Cudjoe Young, 29, in the case involving the 22-year-old Tempe woman.
- Hayes and Young face first-degree murder and multiple related counts, including kidnapping, arson, theft and armed robbery, and both have pleaded not guilty.
- Investigators allege Young orchestrated the killing after Vega identified him in a 2020 armed robbery and prepared to testify in that case.
- The medical examiner reported Vega had been shot and beaten and had bleach in her throat, and that she died from smoke inhalation after being left in a burning car near Tonopah.
- A third defendant, Jared Gray, is charged and remains in Georgia without a death notice filed, as court dates are set for Young on Feb. 2, 2026 and a capital trial beginning May 28, 2026.