Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Deadly Women: Cling ‘Til Death’ follows the story of Vegas Bray, a former Californian Navy mechanic who became obsessed with her ex-boyfriend, Victor Saucedo. When he broke up with her, Vegas stalked him and vandalized his property until he started to fear for his life. His fears turned out true when Vegas killed him in October 2012. The episode follows the investigation process that led to the police nabbing her. If you are interested to know more about this case, we’ve your back.
Who is Vegas Bray?
Vegas Batallya Bray was born in 1988 and grew up in San Diego, California. She was a beautiful and intelligent girl and was known for her good manners. Despite hailing from a broken home and the absence of a father in her life, she never let those problems reflect in her grades – she was a straight-A student through high school. After graduation, she was recruited by the Army as a mechanic for the Navy. It was there she met Victor C. Saucedo, another Navy sailor, who worked on a Destroyer ship in Southern California, and a whirlwind romance ensued.
By March 2011, they had started dating, both finding a match for their dark sense of humor in each other. However, their relationship faced hurdles, as a jealous Vegas could not even approve of Victor speaking with his ex-girlfriend, who was the mother of his child. By 2012, both of them had left the Navy, with Victor joining a local college to provide for his son and Vegas taking employment in a strip club as a cocktail waitress. Victor, by then, had unfriended Vegas on Facebook, blocked her calls, and had broken off with her.
Even after the breakup, the former lovers continued to hook up periodically for the next 10 months or so. According to the prosecution and witnesses, this is where Vegas snapped. She started stalking Victor, slashing his car tires, throwing bottles through the window, smearing peanut butter on his front door, and committing other vandalism. While Victor had reported them several times to the local authorities, no one was ever charged or arrested.
A week before the murder, Vegas claimed that Victor was trying to reconcile and had even agreed to lease an apartment with her in his complex in California. The police also, later, found disturbing memos and a bucket list on her devices, where she had listed buying guns and killing Victor, abusing him repeatedly. On October 15, 2012, Vegas dropped at his apartment, and both shared drinks. They had sex, and Vegas wanted to have breakfast in the morning. Victor declined, and this was the last straw for her.
She reportedly felt ashamed and spent the morning with her brother, Santiago, at the DMV. Victor’s neighbors reportedly saw her walk to Victor’s apartment at around 3 pm on October 16, 2012, and heard a volley of gunshots sometime after. She shot Victor 9 times with a gun using hollow-point ammunition, killing him, before calling 911 herself.
Vegas Bray is Still in Jail Today
Vegas was taken in for questioning, but she maintained that she had blanked out and did not know what had happened. She had been a victim of sexual abuse for a large part of her life, and a psychiatrist diagnosed her with depression and PTSD. On April 24, 2013, she was charged with the murder of Victor and arraigned. But following a mental breakdown in court, the judge ordered a psych evaluation. After nearly 3 years of treatment, the court deemed her fit for trial.
On October 15, 2015, her trial began. Her defense stated that she suffered from “posttraumatic stress disorder and other mental disorders” on that fateful day in October 2012. However, she was convicted of first-degree murder and she was sentenced to 50 years in prison on January 8, 2016. She appealed against the judgment in April 2017, but it was dismissed. According to official court records, Vegas, 33, is presently incarcerated in a prison cell at Central California Women’s Facility. Vegas will be eligible for parole in October 2036, as per her inmate records.
