In the savage murder of an exotic dancer whose body was found in a burning car on an Arizona interstate more than a year ago, authorities announced an arrest Monday.
Mercedes Vega, 22, was killed on April 17, 2023, and Sencere Hayes, 22, is charged with first-degree murder, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office stated Tuesday.
According to jail records, Hayes, a resident of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was arrested in that state on November 11 and is currently being held in Hamilton County.
The sheriff’s office stated that the matter is still ongoing and being investigated and that no other details will be disclosed. The sheriff’s office and local prosecutors are attempting to extradite Hayes to Arizona.
Whether Hayes has a lawyer to represent him is unclear.
Erika Pillsbury, Vega’s mother, stated that she believed her daughter would never receive justice for 19 months.
Pillsbury said over the phone on Monday, “I now know the person who did this to her is going to pay for it.”
According to a sheriff’s incident report, Vega’s body was found in the back seat of a Chevy Malibu on the shoulder of Interstate 10 near Tonopah, some 52 miles west of Phoenix, early on April 17.
Vega’s autopsy revealed that she had been shot, burned, and assaulted while performing at a strip club in Phoenix. She also had intentions to become a personal trainer.
A forensic doctor reviewing her autopsy for NBC News said her face looked like it had been bathed with bleach.
Video that NBC News was able to obtain from Vega’s apartment complex’s security camera showed her entering the garage where she had parked her Dodge Charger hours before. No one ever heard from her again.
According to the sheriff’s office, the Charger was discovered in the middle of a road about a mile from Vega’s apartment on April 18. How the car got there is unclear. Officials have refrained from commenting.
According to Vega’s relatives, they suspect she may have been beaten and kidnapped after discovering blood on the garage floor close to where she parked. The office of the sheriff has refrained from commenting.
The incident report states that the Malibu in which Vega’s body was discovered had a salvage title and had once belonged to an unreachable individual.
State Farm Insurance, the vehicle’s most recent owner, has declined to comment, citing “sensitivities surrounding this tragedy” and their customer privacy policy.
The report, which omitted any further information about the individual, stated that the 911 caller who reported the car fire noticed someone strolling around the Malibu.
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