{"id":850,"date":"2026-05-28T23:06:39","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=850"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:06:39","slug":"prosecutors-not-pursuing-the-death-penalty-against-one-of-the-men-accused-of-murdering-mercedes-vega","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=850","title":{"rendered":"Prosecutors not pursuing the death penalty against one of the men accused of murdering Mercedes Vega"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX \u2014 The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will not be pursuing the death penalty for one of the three defendants charged in the murder of Mercedes Vega.<\/p>\n

Read more Marana traffic stop turns up military-grade arsenal<\/a><\/p>\n

Three defendants total are all charged in the 22-year-old’s murder back in April 2023.<\/p>\n

ABC15 has previously reported that prosecutors filed their intent to seek the death penalty against Cudjoe Young and Sencere Hayes.<\/p>\n

Thursday, MCAO told ABC15 they would not be seeking the death penalty in the case against Jared Gray.<\/p>\n

ABC15 was told they would not be providing additional information on the reason behind their decision.<\/p>\n

Young was found guilty, this week, of robbing Vega at gunpoint years before her murder.<\/p>\n

Read more NBA\u2019s board of governors passes anti-tanking changes to draft lottery<\/a><\/p>\n

He was also convicted of attempting to rob another woman who worked at the same club where Vega danced.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors’ filings for both Young and Hayes included an aggravating factor which alleges Vega was killed possibly to prevent her testimony.<\/p>\n

“The defendant committed the offense to prevent Victim M. Vega\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The robbery trial started the aggravation phase Thursday, and Young’s sentencing in the case is set for June 26.<\/p>\n

Read more NCAA transfer portal rules, NIL could change under new bipartisan Senate bill<\/a><\/p>\n

The murder case is set to go to trial in 2027.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office will not be pursuing the death penalty for one of the three defendants charged in the murder of Mercedes Vega.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime"],"yoast_head":"\nProsecutors not pursuing the death penalty against one of the men accused of murdering Mercedes Vega - Arizona Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arizonamovinginsider.com\/?p=850\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Prosecutors not pursuing the death penalty against one of the men accused of murdering Mercedes Vega - 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