22-year-old arrested out-of-state in connection with Mercedes Vega's murder

PHOENIX - Officials with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office say an arrest has been made in connection with the murder of Mercedes Vega.

In a statement released during the afternoon of Nov. 18, a spokesperson with MCSO identified the person arrested as 22-year-old Sencere Hayes.

"Hayes was arrested on 11/11/2024, in Tennessee," read a portion of the statement. "MCSO is working with the Maricopa County Attorney's Office to get Hayes extradited back to Maricopa County."

Sencere Hayes (left) and Mercedes Vega (right)

We have previously reported on the murder case, which happened in April 2023. According to a report from October 2023, Vega was last seen around Mill Avenue in Tempe with her friends the night before she was found dead. Vega's burned body was found in the backseat of a car alongside Interstate 10 in the Tonopah area.

During a news conference on the case that was held in November 2023, the victim's family members were visibly emotional as they shared their stories with the victim.

‘There was blood all over her parking spot’

Vega's parents said on Nov. 18 when the news broke of Hayes' arrest that their daughter didn't know him.

They're getting ready for another Christmas without their daughter, but they're relieved to know they're closer to getting justice.

"This time of the year is really hard," said her mother, Erika Pillsbury. "We have her stocking to hang up. I will always hang it up right next to her siblings' stocking and that's her Christmas tree from her house."

They recalled when they got a knock at the door from law enforcement on April 17, 2023.

"He said, 'No, I'm sorry ma'am. She's dead. She's deceased,' and I remember hearing screaming," Erika said.

She was told by the police what happened to her daughter.

"We called the detective, and we were like, ‘Explain to us what is going on.’ That's when he told us that Mercedes was abducted and that she had been hit over the head and forced into a vehicle and that she was shot through her right arm and that she had been burned alive," Vega's mother said.

Her father, Tom Pillsbury, said, "We didn't find out about the bleach in her throat until much later."

Erika said it was six months after Vega's death when they got her autopsy.

The grieving parents later went to her apartment where they believe the torture started.

"Somehow, that was released, the video of her walking out of her apartment in her parking garage. We had gone to the parking garage about 3–4 days after she died and there was blood all over her parking spot," Erika said.

The Pillsbury family say they are now in a better place compared to a year ago.

"I could hear this elation in his voice, in the detective's voice, and he said, 'We got him. We got him,'" Erika said.

As far as other suspects, Vega's parents say they were told "there is more to come."

"What gives us hope is that she is going to be vindicated, and she is going to get justice," Tom said.