Seeking the Death Penalty

Calling all sightseers and selfie takers. Wlcome to Texas, where a day at our hiking trails will lead to a lifetime of memories And family road trips become familyily legends. Wh thrill seekers make a splash into spring fed pools and picky eaters will clean their plates. This is your invitation to visit Texas and see it for yourself. Visit travelteexas d. com and plan your family's trip today. Let's Texas I sort of put a car on fire. It was like down in the bushes, but I saop playing inside the vehicle. What happened to Mercedes is completely bizarre and vicious. She endured the most evil pain. I'm not going anywhere. justust like we've said for a long time, We're not going anywhere. The twenty two year old's parents have been pushing for answers fighting for their daughter and at times attention for her case. St belieave what she went through Hey trrue crrime Besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serial Elely. Hello, hello, hello and welcome back to an all new episode of Serialiously with me, your host, Annie Elise And we have got another deep dive to go over together today. How did I say all right, to go over together today, whatever It's such an interesting and Honestly, just a very disturbing case. And when I first heard about it, I felt like Okay, maybe I'd heard about it a little bit. I knew some of the details, but then the deeper that I started looking and like going into the nitty gritty research, which you know I hate that term. I hate nitty gritty It's way more disturbing than I even knew. And so rather than give you any sort of like you, tea up or intro or anything like that, I want to just jump right in. During the very early morning hours of april seventeenth, twenty twenty three, around one thirty AM in the morning, the Maricope County Sheriff's Department received a phone call about a car fire that was near Interstate ten veryy close to Tonapa, Arizona. Now at first, it sounded fairly routine. I mean, honestly, probably the kind of call that first responders out there get all the time. A passing tractor trailer driver had spotted this car that was on fire in the bushes near the side of the highway, and so they called nine hundred eleven. Wh's your emergency. But So yes, scary, but like I said, these things do happen on major highways. And usually when you hear about a burning car on the side of the road, your mind goes toward you, some kind of accident must have taken place, maybe a crash, maybe a mechanical failure, maybe, you something along those lines. When the troopers arrived, there was nobody standing near the car claiming that this vehicle was theirs There was also no sign of a crash, no second vehicle, nothing that immediately explained why this car was burning in the middle of the night. Now as for the car itself, it was a Chevy malibu. and from what they could tell, there was nobody in the driver's seat. Now once the fire was finally extinguished, the investigators, of course, started searching this vehicle for answers What happened here? How did this catch fire? Who was driving this? Is somebody still here? Are their personal belongings? All the different questions? And that's when they found something horrifying because slumped over in the rear passenger seat was a body Now the condition of the body, I'm sure I don't need to tell you, it was extremely bad, as you can imagine But the investigators were luckily still able to recover fingerprints. And so that's when they realized that this body they were looking at It belonged to twenty two year old Mercedes Vega Now right away, there were two things about this scene that immediately stood out to the investigators. The first was the condition that Mercedes had been found in Because this very quickly became much more than just a suspicious vehicle fire It was obvious that Mercedes had suffered an incredibly violent death At the time, the investigators only would tell the media that she quote had additional injuries other than burns from the fire They didn't want to reveal too much, and they also wanted to wait for the autopsy before confirming anything publicly However, once those autopsy results came back They were deeply unsettling Mercedes had suffered from blunt force injuries and had been shot at least once in the arm And there was another detail that the investigators wouldn't learn until later, one that they couldn't see that wasn't visible at the scene itself B bleach had been poured down Mercedes throat And honestly, this next part is incredibly difficult to hear But despite everything that had been done to Mercedes, the autopsy actually determined that Mercedes' actual cause of death with smoke inhalation and burns meaneaning that she burned to death alsoso meaning that she was still alive after she was shot, after the blunt force trauma, after bleach being poured down her throat And then she was alive when the fire started and just consumed her So this obviously was not a situation where somebody killed her first, then decided to burn the car afterward to destroy the evidence, to pour bleach down her throat afterward, to destroy and get rid of any DNA or evidence. This fire itself was part of the murder whichich I can't even imagine the fear and the pain that she must have felt and experienced in those final moments. It's horrific. Now the second thing that these investigators immediately noticed was the vehicle itself. Because this twenty eighteen Chevy malibu that Mercedes had been found in It wasn't actually her car. In fact, legally, it wasn't supposed to be on the road at all, because investigators quickly learned that this vehicle had a salvage title. In fact, it was registered to state Farm insurance, not an individual who owned it or was driving it or operating it And so the investigators did some digging to figure out, okay, well who was the last owner? let's try to walk it back, let's figure out what's going on here. And ultimately, the last legal owner was cleared pretty quickly, leaving investigators with very little to go off of initially. And for anyone who might be unfamiliar with salvage titles, it basically means that that the vehicle had previously been declared a total loss. Usually because of severe damage, maybe it was totaled, it was in an accident or there was a natural disaster that took place, who knows. But essentially the damage is considered so extensive that repairing it either isn't possible or it would cost more than the value of the car and what it's worth itself. So now, without having a lead with who owned this vehicle, investigators were not only dealing with a homicide but one that involved a burning vehicle that technically should not have even been in circulation and should not have been on the road And there was another detail that mattered in all of this too The truck driver who originally called nine hundred eleven, told the investigators that he thought that he saw someone standing near the vehicle before the emergency crews arrived Anyone you said there's people outside the vehicle. We I saw at least one person outside you Now we obviously know that that person wasn't Mercedes So naturally, the investigators started wondering, you know, had this truck driver unknowingly seen the person responsible for killing Mercedes and they stuck around for a few minutes until you know the emergency crews arrived? Now at that point, there were way more questions than answers But the biggest question that the investigators needed to figure out was fairly simple Who was twenty two year old Mercedes Vega How did this twenty two year old woman end up shot and burned alive in the backseat of this salvaged car that had been abandoned on the side of the highway? Well, Mercedes had been living in Tempee, Arizona, roughly sixty miles away from where her body had been found And by every account from people who knew her, she was someone who made an impression on people immediately. Her friends and family described her as beautiful, kind, outgoing, generous, the kind of person who would help anyone. Whether it was somebody that she loved or a complete stranger, it didn't matter. She just wanted to help And this really stood out to me too, because Everyone who has either gone on record and spoken out or who we have been able to get in contact with, everyone seemed to describe her the exact same way Like there was no disconnect between who Mercedes appeared to be publicly and who she actually was behind closed doors. She was the same through and through. And all in all, she seemed like a genuinely really great person. notot just beautiful on the outside but somebody who had a lot of warmth to her as well She didn't deserve what happened to her It just doesn't seem real that she's gone U I just She was mine The person to this had no right to take her away Growing up, Mercedes was a straight A student She also played violin, she had a beautiful singing voice, and she even sang at school events and different sporting games. And before her death in twenty twenty three, she really had started building a life for herself. Which that's honestly, it feels so strange to even say that because she was only twenty two years old And she was still very much at the beginning of adulthood in so many ways, but she was building a life for herself. Mercedes lived on her own at the Aubrey apartments in Tempee, Arizona. Honestly, I think doing that independently at twenty two is pretty impressive, especially now because as we all know, rent is absolutely insane. So living on your own in your own apartment at twenty two years old, I mean, that is a huge accomplishment in and of itself. And I will say this, she wasn't following the stereotypical path of immediately going to college right out of high school Instead, she had plans and goals for herself that she was working toward in her own way, onene of those being her biggest dream of becoming a personal trainer everyone around her knew about this too because she talked about it all the time. Mercedes also loved journaling And in many of her journal entries, she would write about how she eventually wanted to move to Hawaii and start a new chapter there whichich you might be thinking, okay, well, if she wasn't a trainer yet and if she wasn't in school or getting any sort of stipend from her parents or anything like that, how did she afford her independence? How did she afford to live on her own and have her own apartment Well At that time in her life, she was supporting herself by dancing at a place called Lees Girls. Now, Lees Girls was a gentlemen's club, and she would dance there a few nights a week. It was nothing that she was ashamed of or should have been ashamed of. People do that line of work all the time. and this is something that her family has also spoken about a lot since her death. because they truly believe that the stigma surrounding this type of work that it affected the way that people viewed Mercedes and even viewed her case. Yes, she danced a couple nights a week. This' not who she was It wasn't her personality. it wasn't who she was and to the core It's almost like somehow her being an exotic dancer became more important than the fact that she was a daughter, a friend, a twenty two year old young woman with goals and plans for her future, as though that trumped it or negated what she went through Or worse that because of her job, peopleeople somehow thought that she deserved what happened to her, which obviously I think we can all agree that she absolutely didn't. Yet somehow, somewhere along the way, something happened that led Mercedes to that burning car on the side of Interstate ten And the really unsettling part is that just hours before her body was discovered Everything seemed normal. On the night of april sixteenth, Mercedes had plans to go to Dave and Busters with friends, which if you're not familiar with Dav and Busters, it's basically like an adult arcade or an adult You know, like what's another like boomers, They don't have the mini golf and all of that stuff, but it's like a ton of arcade games you get tickets, you win prizes. It's basically like an adult chucky cheese, okay? And kids go there too, but they have like a full bar. there's like a restaurant area. A lot of people go to watch sporting events. It's like a pretty big deal. So she had plans to go with her friends, but last minute, she canceled She told her friends and family that instead of going, she decided that she was going to pick up a shift at the club instead And honestly, that wasn't unusual for her at all If she heard that the club was busy that night, sometimes she would decide to go to work even if she had the day off because she knew that she was going to be able to make really good money that night. However, we now know that what happened after her canceling those plans was unusual because after telling people that she was heading into work Mercedes just suddenly stopped responding to text messages and phone calls altogether left everyone on red, ghosted everyone And that was the very last time that anybody heard from her Today's episode is sponsored by Eetos. Okay, you guys know from the stories that I cover every week that life can literally change overnight. 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Now Mercedes was independent Absolutely But one thing that everybody in her life agreed on was that there was always communication, always updates So for her to now suddenly just stop answering text messages, phone calls and just ghost everyone completely That immediately felt wrong to the people closest to her. And part of the reason that it felt so alarming was because there was something terrifying that had happened to Mercedes just three years earlier She had a very scary run in with a man who had followed her home one night after leaving the club She had been so scared by it, as a matter of fact, that she became much more cautious She switched apartments, She moved to a more secure apartment complex, and she vowed to always update her friends and family with where she was. She was nineteen Here's all Rey How did you find out about what had happened? About five o'clock in the morning and I got a call. And it was from an officer. And honestly, when you hear what happened, that all makes complete sense. Because get this, around five AM one morning after finishing a shift at the club. Mercedes had been driving home, exhausted, just ready to get inside, wash her face, go to bed and like, you know, sleep, just knock out. But she didn't realize that somebody had been following her the entire drive home So, she pulled into her parking lot just as she normally did But then suddenly, a man rushed up to her And he was wearing gloves and a mask. He also had a gun pointed directly at her. He started demanding that she turn over her purse, that she hand over her phone, which in her bag, she had a lot of cash that she had earned that night And he said, you know, if you don't hand everything over to me right now, I'm going to kill you So of course, terrified, Mercedes complied, she passed over all of her belongings to him. She unlocked her phone, she handed it to him, gave him the money to, hoping that by cooperating with this lunatic, it would keep her alive. And thankfully, he didn't shoot her But before running off He did throw her to the ground. She had gravel in her back And I was trying to pick it out. and puts hydrogen peroxide on it. I remember she was just scared that was just the only way. She was trying to kind of start over in a different way, do different things than what she was doing because I felt like she tried to take it as a lesson learned. She was definitely like, yo, we need to make sure we're protective and we're very aware of our surroundings and Like especially just fellow dancers. Now this part really stood out to me because after going through something that traumatic, Mercedes wasn't just thinking about herself afterward She was worried about the other women around her. If she was a target just because she worked at the club, who's to say that this wasn't not a scam because that's obviously not the right word, but a tactic multiple men, or people would use. Fllow a different dancer home every night, Rb them go to a different club. I mean, it seems almost like the perfect crime of opportunity, right And she was worried about her coworkers, her friends, she wanted people to stay alert and be careful because she knew now firsthand how quickly something terrifying like this could happen. Because come on, let's be honest, having somebody point a gun at you and threaten your life That changes you And I will draw on my own experience a little bit here. It's certainly not to the degree of what Mercedes went through, but there was one time and one time only. Actually there's been two times, but one time where was there was a gun pointed at me and my husband. I had mentioned this years ago on I think maybe just social media, never in an episode, but we were driving down to Palm Springs and this guy like cut us off and my husband honked to him, which we will never honk or flip off anybody on the road ever again As soon as he honked to him, the guy then got out of the lane, slowed down purposefully to be like in line with us, like side by side, even though we saw that he was slowing down. so we started slowing down because we're like, what's this guy trying to do? And as soon as he pulled up next to us, he pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at us. And he was terrifying too. He had like, he had a face mask. It was not like a full like ball of Cava but it was kind of like a bandana, a big scarf that was all the way up over his nose. He had a hat on. so all you could see was his eyes. He was in like a Ford, I think it was a two hundred fifty pickup truck And it was terrifying because he just pointed it directly at us That changed me. That also changed my husband. and that's not even somebody holding you up at gunpoint, robbing you and taking all of your belongings and having more of that like actual physical encounter at least we had the vehicle, not even a vehicle between us, but like the glass of the windows between us, right So all I'm saying is she was terrified, it changed her, and she was worried for the people around her, especially when it happens in a place where you should feel safe you know, leaving work outside of your own home where you're going to sleep at night where you lock the doors and you feel cozy and safe and knowing that somebody can invade that protected space of yours horrible to think about So after that experience, the constant communication between Mercedes and the people closest to her, it became paramount. It became so incredibly important to her. whichich is exactly why, three years later, when nobody could get a hold of her, Red flags started waving constantly. The people who loved Mercedes knew that this was not normal And they knew that she wasn't just busy at work They knew that she wouldn't suddenly ignore everybody for no reason And honestly, this is probably one of the small details that is a positive in this entire case. People immediately noticed that something was wrong. Nobody was making excuses, Nobody was trying to say we're overreacting, we're overthinking things. because usually in a lot of cases, we see where hours go by before A, someone even realizes somebody is missing, or B, they think that they're overreacting so they don't do anything about it and they're trying to justify everything in their own mind. Meanwhile, Mercedes, she had people checking in on her almost immediately and identifying that something was wrong. And I know that this sounds incredibly simple But seriously, share your location with people that you trust I share my location with my siblings and my mom and my husband. They share theirs with me as well share your location with people that you trust because that is going to be the fastest way to track somebody's movements, see where somebody's at. And I know sometimes the phone then gets disabled or thrown away, Share your location, send update texts when you arrive somewhere, when you're leaving somewhere, Let people know where you're going I mean, I hate to say it, but like these days, you really can't be too careful. And there was also another detail from the night that Mercedes went missing that really became unsettling in hindsight. Before leaving that night, Mercedes had apparently expressed a very strange feeling that maybe she shouldn't go to work. like something felt off to her. In one text message to a friend, she wrote I just feel weird Like maybe I shouldn't go anywhere So it seemed like she was maybe having second thoughts or at least at minimum, some anxiety about working that night, whichich I mean, honestly, hearing that afterward is heartbreaking. and I've said this before, but I cannot say it enough, especially for my female listeners, Y gut, your intuition It is there for a reason. It is your first line of defense. It's there to protect you. It's there to alert you. So We always say, you know, a mother's intuition, a woman's intuition, we know when somebody's lying. we know when somebody's shady. We can suss out if somebody's not authentic or a good friend or whatever. Your gut is there for a reason Listen to it and trust it because it is there as like I said, your first line of defense. Now, I couldn't find out exactly who it was that first became seriously concerned about Mercedes when she stopped replying. I'm not sure whether it was a close friend or if it was one of her coworkers, but I do know that it was not her mom Erica or her stepdad because they were actually out of town at the time. They had been vacationing in the Caribbean and they weren't scheduled to fly home until april seventeenth But whoever this person was who knew that something was wrong, I mean, they clearly knew Mercedes well enough to realize that something was off, that this was very unlike her. So trying not to panic, but obviously fearing the worst, They decided to go check Mercedes apartment complex for themselves, see if they could find any clues or if they could find Mercedes anywhere. Maybe she had stayed home after all. Maybe she had fallen asleep and then accidentally ignored everybody's messages. But when they got there Things only became more concerning They knocked on Mercedes's apartment door There was no answer. There was also no sign that she was home. Which okay, technically that wasn't unusual because she did say that she was going to work, she was going to work the night shift. so That's when the friend decided to head down to the parking garage. Residents at this complex, they all had assigned parking spaces, and Mercedes kept her car in one of those, a dodge charger. Ecept when the friend got to Mercedes' parking spot. Her car was gone which maybe does bring some ease in the moment because okay, she's not in her apartment. Her car's not here. She obviously maybe did go to work or she met up with somebody. But then also you're kind of like, okay, well, then why isn't she answering if she isn't asleep? Like what's going on here? However, even if you're trying to justify everything in those moments Everything was thrown off Kilter. because this friend noticed that there was blood left behind blood right where the vehicle had been parked and a significant amount of blood So immediately this friend knew that something terrible had happened, especially because Mercedes remember, had experienced being attacked once before. There was just no reasonable explanation for that amount of blood and for Mercedes ghosting everybody unless something had gone horribly wrong. So law enforcement got involved very quickly Because at that point, it was obvious that Mercedes hadn't just disappeared on her own or of her own free will, something violent had happened to her inside that parking garage And from what I can tell, there isn't a whole lot publicly available about the very early hours of this investigation, because almost immediately, investigators started uncovering major clues. It wasn't like there was this lull time from early on. And one of the biggest early breaks actually came from the surveillance footage at Mercedes' apartment complex The cameras captured Mercedes getting off the elevator and walking to the parking garage at nine seventeen PM that evening She was alone, casually dressed, carrying a drink in her hand and carrying her bag. And from everything that the investigators could tell She was simply heading to work at the club like she had told her friends and family, and the club was only about a mile away from her apartment. Unfortunately though, there weren't cameras directly pointed at her actual parking space. So the investigators couldn't see exactly what happened there At the very least, you know, they now had a timeline. They knew when Mercedes was last seen alive and they knew approximately when she was likely abducted. And honestly, watching the footage, which I'm going play for you right now, is incredibly difficult. If you're listening to the audio version of this episode, you may want to pop over to YouTube after you finish it to see this footage because it is very eerie to watch Mercedes looks completely normal. calm, comfortable, like somebody just going about an ordinary night. And this was a woman who was usually hyper aware of her surroundings after what had happened to her years earlier Yet this one time, she's looking down at her phone Probably assuming that she's safe and just responding to a message or scrolling on social media And why wouldn't she feel safe She was in a luxury apartment complex somewhere that she thought was secure, had cameras, It was well lit O residents were nearby. It's not like she was isolated somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. And so up until at least that moment probably felt safe Mercedes' mom, Erica, later wondered whether or not Mercedes may have been on Facetime while getting off the elevator Though from what I can tell, that was never confirmed And honestly, though, if she had been on Facetime, you would imagine that the investigators would have eventually learned whether that person saw or heard anything in those final moments before she reached her car. Because somewhere between that elevator and that footage and then her getting to her parking space Somebody was waiting for Mercedes and investigators were about to realize case, it was not random at all several months, I've realized that when my routine gets off track, everything kind of just feels off, especially during travel season when you're constantly on the go. So that's why I've been trying to really stick to smaller daily habits that help me feel my best no matter where I'm at. 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Get fifteen percent off your first order plus free shipping at bowl andbranch dot com slash aE with code AE. That's Bowl and Branch B O L L A andD branch dot com slash AE use code AE to unlock fifteen percent off. Exclusions apply Now right before that nine hundred and eleven call came in about the burning car that Mercedes was later found in, which was remember around one AM, investigators found Mercedes Dodge Charger I did come across some conflicting reports saying that her car wasn't actually located until april eighteenth, which that would have been after her body was discovered. But then there are some reports saying that it had been found. So I just want to mention the conflicting report for the sake of accuracy. But regardless of exactly when the car was found what investigators discovered inside the car It really helped piece together a much clearer picture of what likely happened to Mercedes. There was a lot of blood inside the vehicle, specifically on the passenger seat And based on the amount and the location of the blood, investigators believed that Mercedes had been attacked inside that parking garage before then being forced inside her own car which this, of course, also lines up with the bllunt force injuries that were later found during her autopsy. Her purse was also still inside the vehicle And there was blood on the handles of her purse. there was blood In the car, investigators were even able to recover a fingerprint from the bag itself. And it was very clearly a crime scene. Unfortunately, the print that they recovered it didn't match anything in the state database, so that lead really went nowhere. But her doodge charger, her car, it had only been abandoned a little over a mile south of her apartment complex, but notably farther away from the club that she supposedly had been heading to And the car had been left illegally parked near a restaurant with the enginine still running, and investigators believed that that might have been done intentionally. Like whoever left it there likely knew that there was a good chance that it would either be towed or if the keys were still there, that it would be stolen, which then in turn would have complicated the investigation even more But before the investigators even had much time to fully process Mercedes's vehicle and everything inside of it, They then got the phone call about the burning Chevy malibu, which then led them to Mercedes' body. Now, in the months after Mercedes was found, there were very few public updates on the case. almost none. And at first, Mercedes' mom Erica and her stepdad, Tom, really tried to stay patient They kept a low profile and they said that they trusted the investigators to just do their jobs. They wanted to believe progress was happening behind the scenes and that eventually they would be made aware of everything that was going on and they would get justice for Mercedes. But as the months dragged on The frustration started building Things felt quiet too quiet And to them, it didn't feel like the silence was because these investigators were actively working on the case It started to feel more and more like this case was just slowly being pushed aside likeike people were waiting for it to eventually just fade into the background and become another cold case, another unsolved homicide. And honestly, Mercedes family believed that part of the problem in all of this and the reason for this and why it didn't seem like people were ively trying to solve it was because of that stigma surrounding Mercedes working at the club They felt like once the media coverage heavily focused on the fact that Mercedes was a dancer and worked at a strip club, people just started viewing her case entirely different. like her life somehow mattered less. Her stepdad, Tom, later said, We were one hundred percent quiet. We didn't say a word It feels like my daughter doesn't matter to them That's what they've made me believe. The six month mark I said, I'm not going to be quiet anymore. My child was dead Both Tom and Erica said that they were largely being kept out of the loop and that they were not being told much about the status of the investigation. Yet meanwhile, investigators maintained the complete opposite saying that if information wasn't being shared, it was strictly to protect the integrity of the case, not to stonewall anyone. My wife and me are We're going to fight to the end of our lives for her Eventually, Mercedes' family decided they were done, staying quiet They wanted people talking about Mercedes. They wanted attention on the case. So they started posting on TikTok. They also started speaking to news outlets and doing anything and everything possible to keep Mercedes name in the public eye. Now they did all of this because in their minds, whoever killed Mercedes was still out there, living freely. Now in one TikTok that Erica posted She talked a lot about the concerns surrounding potential sex trafficking or Mercedes possibly being taken across the border. And I honestly couldn't determine whether those were theories that the investigators were privately discussing with the family, or if those were conclusions that Erica and Tom were personally starting to fear on their own, but at that point There were still barely any answers publicly available And what's especially sad is that Erica posted that TikTok about her daughter's case in March of twenty twenty four. Almost an entire year after Mercedes had been murdered And even then, even a year later, there was still so little information that was known publicly about the case. Mercedes's parents also weren't the only people fighting to keep attention on her story. Her friends and extended family really rallied around her after her death, and they worked hard to spread the awareness online and in the media. There's no reason why a year later Nothing. My child is dead She was burned alive beaten. bleacachhing her throat, someomeone who can do something like that to a twenty two year old Beautiful young woman is less than human. It's hard to put into two words. it's hard to believe she's gone. I miss my daughter so much. I'm angry, I'm frustrated. I've always said to her, I got her back. It will not become yesterday's news. Now earlier, I mentioned the possibility that investigators believed that more than one person may have been involved in Mercedes' murder. And honestly, it sounds like that theory existed pretty early on And in cases involving multiple people, we know there's always this tiny bit of hope that eventually someone will crack. Someone will flip, somebody will get drunk and they'll spill some sort of news or they'll confess or whatever happens, that the guilt will catch up to somebody enough for them to come forward or cooperate That never happened not after the reward money was offered Not after the public, please Not after the social media posts Nothing We your family and friends are robbed of watching your future and that can't just be for nothing I'll be damned if these vile evil people get away with what they did to you. But then, November of twenty twenty four The case suddenly took a massive turn. On november eleventh, twenty twenty four. twenty two year old Cincere Hayes was arrested and charged with first degree murder. First degree murder in connection with Mercedes' death Now right away, people were confused because Sincere lived in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which is obviously nowhere near Tempee, Arizona. And beyond that, there didn't appear to be any sort of connection between him and Mercedes He wasn't an ex boyfriend, he wasn't somebody who was publicly tied to her or her social circle. I mean, nothing immediately made sense. So while people were, yeah relieved that an arrest had finally been made, there was still a lot of uncertainty surrounding how exactly this guy fit into Mercedes's life and ultimately her murder I just about hit my knees just seems so unreal We've been waiting. It's been nineteen months. she was so brutally taken from us and to get that call. from The detective has said We got him. Get the call. which is what we thought we were never going to get I didn't believe it. She fought so hard and they tried everything they could do to hurt her in any way they could and distinguish her And she's her energy still here you can't kill her energy. But it is the first step again. the rest of ' them And now that he's arrested These people better be scared and better be looking over their shoulder because they're coming. So once Sinincere was arrested, more information about him started coming out publicly And none of that information was any good. Authorities alleged that Sincere was involved in a large scale drug trafficking operation that moved fentanyl and other drugs all throughout Arizona and across the United States Investigators said that he and others involved in the operation would receive shipments of drugs and then distribute them nationwide And on top of the murder charge, Sincere was also facing numerous additional charges, including money laundering, conspiracy, illegally conducting an enterprise, weapons misconduct. I mean, a lot of very serious charges So obviously, people were looking at this guy thinking, you know Okay, clearly he's dangerous. clearly he's involved in serious criminal activity. questions still remain What did any of this have to do with Mercedes? And I want to make this really clear because there's already enough stigma surrounding Mercedes and her case. There has never been any indication that Mercedes herself was involved in this whole like drug ring, none whatsoever. So I just want to make that very clear. I don't want people jumping to conclusions or assuming that she somehow was tied into drug selling or exchanging or trafficking because that is a knot what the investigators have said. But the truth was The public was not going to really start understanding this alleged connection between Mercedes and Sinincere until two more arrests happened in June of twenty twenty five. because that's when Jared Gray and Cujo Young were also arrested in connection with Mercedes' murder. Now, unlike Sincere and Jared Kujo's name That one immediately stood out to Mercedes friends and family I feel like wellness can get really overwhelming, right? Because there are constantly new trends and products everywhere I try to focus on things that just fit into my overall routine, help me feel better and like are not super difficult to add in. And one thing that you've heard me talk about that I consistently have been using is AMRA Colostrum. becausecause what stood out to me is that it focuses on supporting immune health, gut health, skin health, metabolism, and recovery all at once. 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Well, that man was allegedly Cujo Young And honestly, once investigators made that connection public, this case started making a whole lot more sense becausecause this wasn't some random attack by strangers who just happened to cross paths with Mercedes one night According to prosecutors, it all traced back to that original robbery case. After Mercedes was robbed in twenty twenty, another young woman who was working at that same club was also targeted and attacked by Cujo. Eventually, investigators identified him and Mercedes herself also picked him out of a lineup. So he was arrested and he was charged with armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. But not long after his arrest, his forty five thousand dollars bail was posted And even though the robbery happened way back in twenty twenty The trial kept getting delayed over and over again, whichich this meant that by the time that Mercedes was murdered in twenty twenty three She still had not even received justice from that earlier case. But more importantly, Mercedes wasn't just waiting for the trial to happen so that she could have some peace and closure She was waiting because she was expected to testify against Cujo. And that detail, it matters a lot Mercedes was of course, one of the key witnesses tying him directly to the robbery because she also had identified him during that lineup which this meant that prosecutors viewed her as a very credible witness against him. And if she wasn't there to testify It sure would make Cujo's case a lot easier for the defense to try and score a win. So after Mercedes was murdered, investigators immediately started looking closely at whether her death could somehow be connected to that upcoming trial At one point, after Kujo was taken into custody, investigators recommended he face conspiracy to commit first degree murder charges, depending on pending DNA results that still hadn't come back yet. At that stage, they still weren't completely certain whether they had enough evidence to formally tie him to Mercedes' murder itself. Sadly, in all my cases these days, the technology kills me U So in this case, you have flight records, you have the credit card statements, you have cell phone data. you have on star data. you'll have the cell phone dumps. You're also going to have the license plate raders, you're going to have the flack cameras. You're going to have ABCD EFD HIJK. The fingerprints, the DNA, the fingerprints that are in the car, a car, the one car And then you have the DNA of the other guy. So science and technology is really gonna be the most strong real evidence. and then you have corroborating evidence. So it sure seems to me they really did a fantastic ic job because when this first happened, they did not know what. they were all surprised. It took a year for this to be investigated, which is how long it takes because you got to execute all these search warrants and subpoas, etcetera, et cetera. But they were able to connect the dots. And so technology and science is what did it and you can't it's going to be very difficult to beat the DNA and the fingerprints on the cop I have to say, I think it's very interesting that the man who allegedly picked two of these co defendants up hasn't been identified I gotta imagine witness have to imagine granted some sort of immunity to testify against them, right? But remember also there's sometimes the Chattanooga and you know, these people have a history of ant they growing up together. But eventually the charges did come And once they did, investigators' theory of what allegedly happened, finally started becoming much clearer According to prosecutors, Sincecire Hayes, Cujoe Young, and Jared Gray all knew each other from Tennessee And that drug trafficking operation that I mentioned earlier Investigators alleged that Kujo was actually the one running it Sincere and Kujo both already had extensive criminal backgrounds, and investigators believed that Jared was right there alongside them. And this is where the case really went from a brutal homicide into what prosecutors are describing as a planned murder for silence plot You don't hear that term too much, right? You usually hear murder for hire, not murder for silence. Because according to the investigators, this wasn't spontaneous. Mercedes wasn't just randomly targeted They believe that she was killed to prevent her from testifying against Cujo. In fact, when Sincecre was first arrested, investigators were reportedly already building cases against the other two men as well They just needed enough evidence to make the arrests stick So here's some of the evidence that the prosecutor say ultimately tied all three of them together First, investigators were able to recover DNA evidence from inside the Chevy Malibu where Mercedes's body had been found, even though it had been burned, they were able to recover DNA evidence Despite that fire damage, they said that the DNA matched both Sinincere and Jared. Then, they also had cell phone data which investigators say showed that Sincere and Jared's phones were traveling along the same route as the Chevy Malibu on the day that Mercedes was murdered prosecutors now believe that Cujo is the one who orchestrated this entire thing, directed them to go and murder Mercedes, even though he wasn't physically present during the murder itself. And even though he wasn't the first person arrested, they believe that he was the mastermind behind all of it. Now when Sincere was arrested Core documents alleged that quote The defendant committed the offense to prevent Mercedes Vegas' cooperation with an official law enforcement investigation to prevent her testimony in a court proceeding or in retaliation for her cooperation with an official law enforcement investigation And honestly, once the other arrests happen, that theory started making a lot more sense. Because think about it, it wouldn't make sense for Sincecere to allegedly go to these lengths entirely on his own for a case that didn't even directly involve him It would make sense that he was the henchman, the one who was directed to go do this Prosecutors believe that Kuja was the driving force behind it He knew that Mercedes's testimony could seriously hurt him in court. and according to the investigators, because of that He decided that she needed to be silenced before the trial could even happen. Now, was Kujo capable of physically committing the murder himself Yes, sure But prosecutors say that there was one major hiccup with that, a major issue He was all red and that was that he was already in custody at the time So according to the investigators, he allegedly relied on his childhood friends, Cincere and Jared to go carry out this murder for him instead If prosecutors are right, that means that Mercedes' murder was coordinated and planned well before the night in the parking garage. This was premeditated. It was orchestrated and planned out far far in advance of when it actually happened. Now, regardless of whether Kujo was physically there or not, investigators believe that all three of these men played roles in what happened to Mercedes You know, we didn't know who Sensara was and we didn't know who Jared Gray was But we knew whouja was. We obiousume when we first heard about it We just kind of held each other and cried. Now this begs an even bigger question. And I don't know what the answer is for this. and I don't know if maybe there is an answer that I'm unaware of But When you have these high stakes witnesses, What is the system doing to protect them, to make sure that there are protections in place? Because we've seen this with many cases, right? You even saw a little bit of it with Diddy. when there's a fear of witness intimidation, witness tampering, silencing a witness Especially as something's carrying on years and years, where is there some sort of protection in play for these high stakes witnesses Who's to say that they're not going to just be wiped off the street, especially if the rooted crime was already a violent one Clearly, there's a history of violence, right? Or I mean, I guess not officially because it has hadn't been adjudicated yet and he hadn't been convicted. but if there's a pattern and a history of violence, clearly, the high stakes witness would be in danger as well So what are we doing or how are we failing at protecting them? too make sure that they're safe and they can actually go to the trial and testify. Now another major piece of evidence in all of this was travel records. Investigators say that Sinre and Jared both flew from Tennessee to Arizona around the time of the murder. which this created a pretty significant paper trail. Jared later admitted to the investigators that he had in fact been in Arizona, though he claimed that it was only for business He didn't elaborate on what kind of business that supposedly was. He left it at that. that was his excuse and he was sticking to it And initially, Jared lied to investigators altogether, first claiming that he didn't even know Sinre or Cujo, but then later changing his story to admit that he at least knew Cujo because they had been from the same hometown So ultimately, Jared was charged with first degree murder, armed robbery, kidnapping, and theft. Kujo was charged with conspiracy to commit first degree murder and conspiracy to commit kidnapping And once all three of these arrests had been made The investigators started publicly laying out more of a complete timeline of what they believe happened the night that Mercedes was killed At around eight hundred forty five PM, surveillance cameras captured the white Chevy Malibu, the same one that Mercedes's body would later be found in. prched and burned. entering the parking garage at her apartment complex And I'm going to show this footage again over on the video version of this episode. so you audio listeners, go take a look after. But about thirty minutes later, surveillance footage captured Mercedes exiting the elevator and walking into the garage by herself. And honestly, this part, it really sits heavy with me because according to prosecutors, these men were just allegedly there already waiting for her. sitting in that parking garage, watching the elevator doors, waiting for Mercedes to come downstairs. Which again, that means that this was planned long before she ever even stepped into the garage that night. Investigators later captured footage that showed both the Chevy Malibu and Mercedes dodged Charger leaving the garage at roughly the same time. So prosecutors believe that Mercedes was likely attacked forced into the malibu and then driven away while another suspect followed behind in her vehicle And then as we know, there's the bleach A lot of people following this case have questioned that detail specifically because It feels especially cruel and deliberate. And people have wondered whether it was done to A destroy evidence somehow, possible DNA evidence that was found in or around her mouth, you know, something along those lines. or If it was something more symbolic because investigators reportedly believe that the reasoning may have been much more symbolic. According to them The bleach was allegedly meant as punishment for Mercedes speaking out against Cujo for agreeing to testify against him What you know the saying, you know, stitches get stitches. I don't think there's a saying for this, but basically like that. You're going to speak out against me. Well, I'm going to silence you and I'm going to pour bleach down your throat So in other words, this wasn't at all about hiding evidence, it was about intimidation and torture And honestly, the level of hatred and cruelty involved in this It is so difficult to process. The evidence tying these men to Mercedes' murder appears to be substantial. Investigators aren't just pointing to vague circumstantial evidence. They're pointing to DNA, cell phone data, surveillance footage, travel records, and prior connections between the suspects. I am very, very happy with the evidence that they have because it is not circumstantial. Now Our focus is on the trial, gettinget these people to trial focus on justice for her and then we can heal because honestly, I'm not going to be a victim for the rest of my life. Now despite all of that, which feels overwhelming All three men have pleaded not guilty whichich means that Mercedes' family now faces the possibility of enduring three separate trials. And with every trial comes another round of reliving what happened to Mercedes Another round of hearing the details, seeing the evidence, being reminded of how brutally her life was taken, simply because prosecutors say she was willing to testify testify in a crime that happened against her. In December of twenty twenty five, prosecutors announced that they would seek the death penalty against two of the three men specifically Cujo and sincere This decision to move forward with the death penalty against two of these defendants How are you feeling about that? And is this something that you both were advocating for since the beginning Yeah, I wanted Wh Jo, Since Sarah and Jared to know. that we would never stop That they needed to understand that and that any life I have left in me and any breath I have left, I will continue to advocate for Mercedes and I will ensure that every lawful consequence that they could possibly endure they will face. They chose to make this decision I think that the consequences should be brought down upon them without mercy, without hesitation. We won't rest until every person who is responsible for taking her away from us is held accountable It's something we've been fighting for. It's very hard to be happy about this ' you have mixed emotions, you're happy and sad and you're angry and you're frustrated. I'm not happy that someone could die. That's not what I want. but what they did to our child, it fits what they did to our child. I'm not an advocate of saying, oh, well, this or an ee for an eye, but I mean, ultimately my daughter didn't do anything wrong. This is over a cell phone and a thousand dollars They had no caring of life. Pe flying here that didn't know her. like Erica said, it fits what they did. I mean, they could have done simple thing and but they ended up torturing our child. They don't have any care for life. So I don't have any reservations about that. I'm glad that the state has finally got to that point because Kujo is the main person in this whole thing. He is the reason we're sitting here. The other people just followed along and for the state to agree that he deserves is a very it's very good for us. and it kind of helps us that we're now going on that path that we know is going to be a long path. They didn't just take her life. They destroyed all of our lives. Yes. Now as of this recording, it hasn't been confirmed whether or not Jared will also face the death penalty. though that could potentially change depending on how this case develops or if there's any sort of plea agreements that happen. But honestly, thinking about everything that Mercedes' family still has ahead of them It's heartbreaking. But by all accounts, they are ready for it. They have waited years for these arrests, years for answers, years for accountability. And no matter how painful this process becomes They seem fully prepared to see it through I am so grateful For the community. I'm so grateful for the media Um, I'm so grateful for all the people that came out and stood with us and marched with us and You know, all these people was getting attention and they were paying attention And if we didn't do that, we wouldn't be here. And I think the most important thing, especially for people out there who maybe have a murdered child and there nothing's being done about it whver you can. Do whatever you can, get together with all your child's friends with, you know, create a Facebook page. Demand justice for your child. It's the best thing you can do I like to say they didn't just kill a child. They ignited a mom I wanted to do everything I could. to make them pay attention And I did everything I could And the media hoped and the public hoped and that she matters. Yes, she danced a couple nights a week. That's not who she was It wasn't her personality. it wasn't who she was and to the core She was a beautiful person She wanted to be a mom. And we missed out on all of that because of them. but So glad that we did what we did. I'm glad I wasn't quiet Nobody should be quiet. Nobody's Nobody's deaths should be left in the dark. Hopefully, we will begin seeing these cases move toward trial later this year, though, as we know, delays can happen constantly in situations like this Defense attorneys will push for more time, they'll file motions, they'll do whatever they can, and death penalty cases can take especially long. But with the amount of evidence that the investigators say that they've gathered, it's difficult to imagine that this case will simply disappear or go unjust I definitely will be keeping an eye on it as more happens and as we learn more It just breaks my heart that again, there is not a system in place to protect these high stake witnesses. because Mercedes was brave. She showed up for herself. She had the bravery and the courage to testify against this man. and yet because of that, because of that bravery, she was killed had killed in such a barbaric, brutal, and excruciating way Horrible I'm curious to know what you guys think about this case and what your thoughts are on the system as a whole and is there something more that we can do? Let me know in the comments section or on the review section if you're listening to this on Apple