Nearly three weeks ago, authorities announced an arrest in the brutal killing of Mercedes Vega, an exotic dancer who was found dead 19 months ago in a burning car on an Arizona highway.
Vega's mother, Erika Pillsbury, says the development has inched her closer to a sense of closure, but she's still far from understanding the grim circumstances surrounding the killing — why her daughter was allegedly kidnapped, why she suffered such a horrific death and who else may have been involved.
"When I finally get all the pieces of this puzzle together, I don’t know if I’ll be more mad, the same amount of mad or less mad," she said in an interview Wednesday.
"I'm sure there are moms out there that don't want to know," she added. "I want to know."
Since the arrest last month of Sencere Hayes, 22, on a charge of first-degree murder in connection with Vega's killing, authorities have offered no details about a possible motive, nor have they discussed Hayes' link to Arizona.
Public records list Hayes' address as being in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
An indictment shows that he was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and theft in connection with the April 17, 2023, killing of Vega, 22.
At Hayes' initial appearance in a Maricopa County courtroom last week, a prosecutor said the murder investigation is ongoing and involves other people whom she did not identify.
A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office said he understood the many questions about the case that remain, but he declined to comment further because of the ongoing investigation. A spokesperson for the Maricopa County Prosecutor’s Office also cited the case's status and declined to comment.
In a statement last week, Sheriff Russ Skinner said that while "there is still much work to be done, in collaboration with state, local and federal partners, we hope this arrest brings Mercedes’ family one step closer to finding closure from this horrific crime."
Hayes pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Wednesday. He is being held in lieu of a $2 million cash bond, jail records show. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pillsbury said she and her husband sat directly behind Hayes in court "because we wanted to make sure he knew we were there."
"We can't speak to him, but I can stare a hole in the back of his head," she said.
Vega, who danced at a Phoenix strip club and had plans to open her own gym and become a personal trainer, was last seen in her apartment complex in Tempe, just east of Phoenix, shortly after 9 p.m. on April 16, 2023. A security camera captured her entering the building’s garage.
Authorities have not said what they believe happened next. Her family has said they found blood on the garage floor next to the spot where she parked her Dodge Charger, prompting them to believe she may have been assaulted and kidnapped.
Hours later, before dawn on April 17, Vega’s body was discovered in the back seat of a burned Chevy Malibu on Interstate 10 near Tonopah, west of Phoenix.
She had been beaten, shot and burned, according to her autopsy, and her face appeared to have been doused in bleach, according to a forensic pathologist who reviewed the document for NBC News.
It is not clear whom the Chevy Malibu belonged to. The vehicle had a salvage title, according to an incident report, and a spokesman for its most recent owner, State Farm Insurance, has declined to comment.
The car was discovered after someone saw it in the interstate's westbound lane with flames in the back seat and dialed 911, according to the report.
Authorities have said Vega’s Charger was found parked in the middle of a street roughly a mile from the garage on April 18. The indictment alleges Hayes stole it.
"Was he following her?" Pillsbury said of Hayes. "Did he accidentally walk up on her?"
"It's that unknown that can be really hard," she said. "The truth will show us what really happened."
