Man charged in murder of Arizona dancer being tried on suspicion of robbing her 3 years before her death

Opening statements began Tuesday in the robbery trial of an Arizona man accused of targeting exotic dancers in 2020, three years before he is alleged to have helped carry out a horrific plot to kidnap and murder one of the women

Opening statements began Tuesday in the robbery trial of an Arizona man accused of targeting exotic dancers in 2020, three years before he is alleged to have helped carry out a horrific plot to kidnap and murder one of the women.

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Cudjoe Young, 30, will be tried on charges of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery after he held up Mercedes Vega at gunpoint and sought to rob a second dancer weeks later in the Phoenix area, authorities said.

Young faces separate charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping, arson, theft, conspiracy and armed robbery with a deadly weapon connected to Vega’s killing in 2023.