Recently, a guy was taken into custody in Tennessee in relation to the death of a young woman from Arizona, whose body was found in the back seat of a car after she had been tortured and burned alive.
In April of last year, 22-year-old Mercedes Marianna Vega passed away under suspicious circumstances. On April 17, 2023, after midnight, the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a car fire, and her body was found.
According to her parents, who made the autopsy results public in late October 2023, Vega died from smoke inhalation while being burned alive, suffered blunt force injuries from beatings, had a gunshot wound in one arm, and had bleach poured down her throat.
The somber discovery was uncovered on Interstate 10 close to Tonopah, a census-designated area around 60 miles west of Tempe with a low population.
Surveillance footage showed Vega leaving her parking garage a little over two hours earlier in preparation for a scheduled night out with her buddies at Dave and Buster’s restaurant and arcade.
Sencere Hayes, 22, was taken into custody by the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in the Volunteer State on November 11. According to a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, Maricopa County law enforcement is presently awaiting his extradition back to Grand Canyon State.
Associated coverage:
The Vega case is still ongoing and being investigated, according to the sheriff’s office. Although the defendant’s official criminal charge status is now unknown, the sheriff’s office reports that the agency’s homicide team arrested him.
Sgt. Monica Bretado of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has been putting in a lot of effort on the Mercedes Vega investigation. To get Hayes extradited back to Maricopa County, MCSO is collaborating with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Vega’s parents informed Fox affiliate KSAZ in Phoenix that their daughter was unaware of the man who was detained in relation to her killing. They claimed that the news came at a favorable moment.
When the arrest was originally reported on Monday, Vega’s mother, Erika Pillsbury, told the TV station that it’s very difficult this time of year. Her stockings need to be hung up. It’s her family’s Christmas tree, and I’ll always hang it next to her siblings’ stockings.
In her obituary, the woman is described as loving:
According to the police, Vega was abducted and assaulted from her Tempe garage.
The victim’s parents were already told by investigators about her probable last hours.
Tell us what’s happening, we said to the investigator when we called. At that point, Vega’s mother told KSAZ that Mercedes had been abducted, struck over the head, pushed into a car, shot through her right arm, and burned alive.
Vega’s father, Tom Pillsbury, stated, “We didn’t learn a lot of the information, like the bleach in her throat, until after.” Her mother added, “Six months later.”
Her body was found in a car that had been abandoned close to Vega’s residence after the kidnapping, not her own.
According to Erika Pillsbury, who spoke to news station KSAZ, “there was blood all over her parking spot when we went to the parking garage about three or four days after she died.”
Additional arrests in the case are likely, the sheriff’s office told Phoenix-based ABC affiliate KNXV.
The victim’s parents, however, believe that the initial arrest in the case is crucial and very significant.
WTVC, an ABC affiliate in Chattanooga, reports that Hayes was detained earlier this year.
When the investigator replied, “We got him,” I could hear the excitement in his voice. We managed to get him. With tears in her eyes, Vega’s mother addressed the Fox affiliate.
Tom Pillsbury declared that she will receive justice and be exonerated.
According to a Maricopa County Attorney’s Office representative, they could only confirm that Hayes was the subject of shared extradition attempts, but they would provide additional details when they became available.
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