Thief charged with murdering stripper who was due to testify against him

A burglar has finally been charged with killing a stripper who was found beaten, shot and burnt to death the day she was scheduled to testify against him in court for robbing her at gunpoint years ago.

Cudjoe Young, 29, was indicted on charges of murder, kidnapping and arson in the death of 22-year-old Mercedes Vega, an exotic dancer from Phoenix who was discovered dead in a torched car on the side of an Arizona highway in 2023, NBC News reported.

Years earlier, Vega had identified Young as a suspect of an armed robbery at her Phoenix apartment building on Oct. 12, 2020, when she was held up at gunpoint by a masked man after she got off her shift.

Young was ultimately charged with armed robbery and Vega was due to testify against him in that case the day she was found dead.

Vega was abducted from her apartment building’s garage on April 16, 2023, and later found battered and burned in the backseat of a fiery Chevy Malibu on the side of the interstate before dawn the next morning, according to police. 

Authorities said that bleach had been poured on her face and down her throat.

Two other strippers from the club Vega worked at were also targeted for robberies by a suspect matching Young’s description. He was charged with robbery in one of the cases, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

In November, police arrested 22-year-old Sencere Hayes, 22, on a first-degree murder charge for the horrific killing.

Young is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, arson, theft and armed robbery with a deadly weapon and is being held without bond. Hayes was indicted last week on the same charges as Young plus hindering prosecution and is being held on a $4 million bond.

Young’s trial on the robbery charges was scheduled to begin Tuesday — but he’s since fired his attorney and opted to represent himself, causing a delay.

A third suspect, Jared Gray, has also been charged with murder in the case and was awaiting extradition to Arizona from Georgia, where he is being held on unrelated charges, according to jail records.