By admin 
PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A man has been convicted for the 2020 armed robbery case that is connected to the high-profile murder of Mercedes Vega.
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A jury found Cudjoe Young guilty Wednesday of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery.
Prosecutors said he robbed Vega at gunpoint outside her apartment in October 2020. Body camera video show Vega telling officers that Young had been following her and waiting for her to come home.
Vega picked Young out of a photo lineup and was set to testify against him at trial, investigators said.
Young was involved in another robbery one month later, involving Reese Pettyford. He apparently hid in her Scottsdale parking garage and then held her at gunpoint.
Both victims worked at Le Girls. Both got off around 4 a.m. And both described a man in gloves, a black hoodie and a mask demanding their phones.
Separately, three men, including Young, are set to go to trial later this year in connection with Vega’s death.
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Investigators said Young got his friends to kill Vega so she could not testify in the armed robbery case.
She was found dead in a burning car in April 2023 near Interstate 10 west of Tonopah.
If Young is convicted in that case, prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty.
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