The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office now recommends that Young be accused of conspiracy to commit a first degree murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping in Vega’s death, according to a declaration of probable cause filed last month in the superior court of that county.
For Vega’s mother, the last development brought a measure of relief.
“We have felt that we have been drowning in a sea of despair and pain for two and a half years,” said Erika Pillsbury. “And now we have been thrown into a life server. People who are responsible for killing my little daughter will face justice.”
Two other suspects have been accused in Vega’s death. The Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office presented first -degree murder charges, kidnapping, armed hand and robbery against Jared Gray, according to a complaint of June 20. Gray was in Custody in Georgia for unrelated positions and has not been extradited to Arizona, said a spokesman for the Maricopa County Sheriff.
A third person, Sencere Hayes, was accused in November of first degree murder, kidnapping, armed hand and robbery in relation to Vega’s murder. He declared himself innocent.
The authorities have provided few details about the connection between men, although the declaration of probable cause identified a geographical link: chattanooga, Tennessee. Young is from the city, says the statement, and Hayes and Gray traveled to Phoenix from there.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s office declined to comment. A spokesman for the County prosecutor said he is reviewing possible charges against Young, 29, but would not comment on the case of theft, who is prosecuting and is scheduled to be tried on July 29. It is not clear why the case has taken so long to award.
Hayes and Young lawyers did not respond to comments requests. Judicial records do not list a lawyer for Gray. In an interview with the authorities, he denied having been in Arizona, shows the declaration of probable cause.
A terrifying incident near home
At 4:15 am on October 12, 2020, Vega was parking outside his apartment building after work when a masked man ran towards her, drew a gun and demanded his belongings, according to an incident report by the Phoenix Police Department.
The man grabbed Vega and held it to his face to try to unlock it, but failed because the facial recognition function did not installed, Vega’s mother recalled that her daughter told her. When he ordered him to enter his pin, Vega resisted, Pillsbury said.
“He pushed her to the ground, told her that she would kill her and held the weapon on her face,” Pillsbury said.
Vega fulfilled, Pillsbury said, and the man took everything: car keys, wallet, telephone and a bag that contains hundreds of dollars. With the unlocked phone, the man stole more money through a cash transfer application, according to the report.
Vega was so distressed, Pillsbury recalled, that “you couldn’t walk behind her without her jumping.”
In a matter of days, Pillsbury said, Vega moved to somewhere that thought he had better security. The new apartment was on the second floor, Pillsbury said, and had a parking lot that required a keychain for access.
Three years later, that garage was the last place that Vega would be seen alive.
Another dancer says it was probably tracked
Vega, who acted at the Phoenix Strip Club Le Girls and was saving to become a certified personal coach, was not the only dancer who said they had been attacked after a turn. In the months before and after the theft of Vega, two other women said that a masked man held them, or tried to support them, at the tip of the gun, according to interviews with former dancers and police reports.
A former dancer who said she was stolen did not know Vega well, but asked Vega to describe her attacker.
After Vega described a man with gloves, a ski mask and a hooded sweatshirt that was taller than her, Vega had 5 feet and 8 inches, the former dancer said he believed that they had probably been attacked by the same person. (The woman asked NBC News not to identify her because she no longer works as a dancer).
Around 4:30 am on November 2, 2019, he said, a masked assailant appeared in front of his aunt’s condominium in a quiet part of Scottsdale, a rich suburb east of Phoenix, and pointed with a weapon on his face. He took his bag and fled.
Then, the woman said, she hit the main door of her aunt so much that her knuckles bleed.
