PHOENIX (Scripps News Phoenix) — A third suspect in the 2023 Mercedes Vega murder case has been extradited to Arizona.
Jared Gray was reportedly transferred to the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Custody on Thursday and made his initial appearance in front of a judge overnight. Gray was in custody out of state on a separate criminal matter in Georgia.
Jared Gray is charged in the death of Mercedes Vega. (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office)
According to MCSO’s online records on Friday, Gray is being held on charges including first-degree murder, hindering prosecution, arson, kidnapping, armed robbery, and theft.
In June 2025, Jared Gray was officially charged in connection with Vega’s death, along with two other suspects, Cudjoe Young and Sencere Hayes.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office believes Vega, who was 22 years old, was taken from her Tempe apartment parking garage and was ultimately found in a burning car off the I-10.
The Medical Examiner’s report said she had blunt force injuries, was shot in her arm, and had bleach in her throat.
Vega’s family is still hoping for answers about what happened to their daughter.
“We got a lot of information this year,” Erika Pillsbury, Vega’s mother, said last month, “but it seems like we have hardly any.”
Mercedes Vega was found dead in a burning car in April 2023. (Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office via Scripps News Phoenix)
“This was a senseless crime that should have never happened,” Vega’s dad, Tom Pillsbury, told ABC15 last summer. “I’m finally going to be able to look these individuals, for however long it takes, in their eyes and feel me sitting there. I’m not going anywhere.”
Scripps News Phoenix obtained court documents in June 2025 that said Gray was linked by evidence to the scene where Vega was found dead.
Investigators believe Gray and Hayes traveled to Arizona in March 2023 by plane. Gray and Hayes then left the state together, back to Tennessee, the day after Vega was found dead.
Young, who was identified by Vega as the suspect in a previous armed robbery case involving Vega, but not originally linked to her death, was identified as a user of the credit card that purchased plane tickets for Hayes and Gray.
Gray had told investigators that he had traveled to Arizona for “business” but did not say what it was or who he was with. He denied knowing Hayes or Young. However, according to court documents, Hayes told officials he knew Young from Tennessee, where all three men are originally from.
All three suspects – Hayes, Gray, and Young – are in MCSO custody.
This story was originally published by Scripps News Phoenix, an E.W. Scripps company.
