A man was recently arrested in Tennessee in connection with the death of a young Arizona woman, whose body was discovered after being tortured and burned alive in the back seat of a car.
Mercedes Marianna Vega, 22, died in mysterious circumstances in April of last year. As her body was discovered after the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a car fire after midnight on April 17, 2023.
Vega had a gunshot wound in one arm, blunt force injuries from being beaten, bleach poured down her throat, and died of smoke inhalation while being burned alive, according to her parents, who revealed the autopsy results in late October 2023.
The grim discovery was made on Interstate 10 near Tonopah, a sparsely populated census-designated place about 60 miles west of Tempe.
A little more than two hours before, Vega was seen on surveillance footage leaving her parking garage for a planned night out with her friends at Dave and Buster’s restaurant and arcade.
On November 11, the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office arrested Sencere Hayes, 22, in the Volunteer State. Maricopa County law enforcement is currently awaiting his extradition back to the Grand Canyon State, according to a sheriff’s office spokesperson.
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The sheriff’s office stated that the Vega case “remains active and under investigation.” The defendant’s formal status in terms of criminal charges is currently unknown, but he was arrested by the agency’s homicide unit, according to the sheriff’s office.
“MCSO has been working tirelessly on the Mercedes Vega case,” Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Monica Bretado. “MCSO is working with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office to get Hayes extradited back to Maricopa County.”
Vega’s parents told Phoenix-based Fox affiliate KSAZ that their daughter didn’t know the man arrested in connection with her murder. They said the news arrived at a good time.
“This time of the year is really hard,” Vega’s mother, Erika Pillsbury, told the TV station on Monday, when the arrest was first reported. “We have her stockings to hang up. I’ll always hang it right next to her siblings’ stockings, and that’s her Christmas tree from her home.”
The woman’s obituary describes her fondly:
Mercedes was a beautiful young child who loved horses and babies. She played the violin, and had a beautiful singing voice. Mercedes sang the national Anthem at many sports games and special events. She was a straight “A” student throughout her young school career. She was an incredible swimmer and loved the ocean. She used to say, “My soul belongs in Hawaii.”
Mercedes was successful at everything she set out to do. She did not apologize for who she was, and yet was always uplifting and encouraging those around her.
Police believe Vega was attacked and kidnapped from her Tempe parking garage.
Investigators previously informed the victim’s parents about her likely final hours.
“We called the detective and said, ‘Explain to us what is going on.’ That’s when he told us Mercedes was kidnapped, hit over the head, forced into a car, shot through her right arm, and burned alive,” Vega’s mother told KSAZ.
“We didn’t find out a lot of the information, like the bleach in her throat, until after,” said Vega’s father, Tom Pillsbury; her mother added, “Six months later.”
Vega’s car was not the one in which her body was discovered; it had been abandoned near her apartment following the abduction.
“We had gone to the parking garage about three or four days after she died and there was blood all over her parking spot,” Erika Pillsbury told the television station KSAZ.
The sheriff’s office informed Phoenix-based ABC affiliate KNXV that additional arrests in the case are likely.
However, according to the victim’s parents, the first arrest in the case is extremely important—and possibly critical.
According to Chattanooga-based ABC affiliate WTVC, Hayes was previously arrested this year.
“I could hear elation in his voice, the detective’s voice, when he said, ‘We got him. “We got him.” Vega’s mother spoke to the Fox affiliate, her voice breaking through tears.
“She is going to be vindicated, and she is going to get justice,” said Tom Pillsbury.
A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said they could only confirm that shared extradition efforts for Hayes were underway, but that more information would be released as it became available.
