PHOENIX (AZFamily) — The third suspect arrested in connection with the brutal murder of Mercedes Vega nearly three years ago entered a not guilty plea in a downtown Phoenix courtroom on Friday morning.
Jared Demarcus Gray, 26, was arraigned a week after he was extradited to Arizona from Georgia. He’s facing nine charges, including first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and arson.
Defense attorneys entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
Jared Gray appeared in a Maricopa County courtroom on Friday in connection with the murder of Mercedes Vega.(Arizona’s Family)
Vega was last seen alive via surveillance video on April 16, 2023, as she left her Tempe apartment to meet with friends. But she never showed up, and her car was later found abandoned at a nearby restaurant.
She was found dead in a burning car the next day near Interstate 10 west of Tonopah.
The autopsy report later revealed grim details, stating that Vega had been shot in the arm and hit in the head. She also had bleach in her throat and was reportedly alive when the car was set on fire. Her cause of death was determined to be smoke inhalation.
Investigators soon established a motive for her murder. Vega was robbed at gunpoint in 2020 by a suspect later identified as Cudjoe Young. He was arrested and identified as the alleged robber after Vega picked him out of a photo lineup.
But Vega was killed before she could testify against him. According to court records, Young used a credit card to purchase plane tickets to fly Gray and Sencere Patrick Hayes from Tennessee to Arizona in the days leading up to her death.
Young was allegedly running an illegal drug operation that distributed narcotics and fentanyl nationwide. Multiple law enforcement agencies investigated the ring and arrested almost a dozen people, many of whom have taken plea deals.
Young was later charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping, while the two other men were charged with murder. The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office previously announced that prosecutors would seek the death penalty if Hayes and Gray are convicted.
Gray is expected back in court on March 2, and his trial is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 10.
Jared Gray (top left) has now been arrested in connection with the murder of Mercedes Vega (right) in 2023. Cudjoe Young (bottom left) and Sencere Hayes (bottom middle) were already arrested.(AZFamily / MCSO)
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