Opening statements began on May 12, 2026, in the robbery trial of Cudjoe Young, an Arizona man accused of targeting exotic dancers in 2020. Young, 30, faces charges of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery in a case that precedes allegations that he helped carry out a plot to kidnap and murder one of the women he is accused of robbing.
According to authorities, Young held Mercedes Vega at gunpoint during a robbery and attempted to rob a second dancer weeks later in the Phoenix area. Young has pleaded not guilty to these charges.
Details of the 2020 Robberies
The charges in the current trial stem from an incident on October 12, 2020. An incident report indicates that Vega, who was 22 at the time, was robbed before dawn after finishing a shift at a club in Phoenix. A masked man approached her outside her apartment building with a drawn gun and stole her wallet, car keys, and a bag containing hundreds of dollars.
The report further states that after the assailant unlocked Vega’s phone, he used a cash transfer app to steal additional money.
The robbery trial follows years of delays. Prosecutors noted that Young repeatedly reversed his position on offered plea agreements, including one proposal that would have reduced the robbery charges to a minor felony resulting in minimal prison time.
Connection to the 2023 Murder
While the current trial focuses on the 2020 robberies, Young faces separate, more severe charges related to the death of Mercedes Vega in 2023. Those charges include first-degree murder, kidnapping, arson, theft, conspiracy, and armed robbery with a deadly weapon. Young has pleaded not guilty to these charges as well.
Vega was found beaten, shot, and burned in the back seat of an abandoned car on an interstate west of Phoenix. Authorities have accused Young and two other men, Jared Gray and Sencere Hayes, of killing Vega to stop her from cooperating with investigators. Both Gray and Hayes were indicted in the murder and have pleaded not guilty.
Erika Pillsbury, the mother of Mercedes Vega, has stated her belief that the 2023 killing was directly linked to the earlier robbery. Vega was scheduled to testify in court on the same day her body was discovered.
Young previously appeared for an arraignment in Maricopa County Superior Court on August 1 regarding these matters.