Arizona Jury Convicts Spree-Killer Cleophus Cooksey Jr. on Eight Murders; Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty

PHOENIX — A Maricopa County jury on Thursday found Cleophus Cooksey Jr. guilty on eight counts of murder for a three-week spree of shootings that terrorized metro Phoenix in 2017. Prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty.

Cooksey, described by investigators as an aspiring musician, also was convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault and armed robbery in connection with the killings. The victims included members of his family and several strangers encountered during the attacks in Phoenix and nearby Glendale. Investigators said DNA recovered from the body of Maria Villanueva matched Cooksey, and they tied other physical evidence to him, including a gun linked to the killings and found at a relative’s home and a necklace Cooksey was wearing when he was arrested. The jury’s verdict confirms a pattern of violence linked to a single suspect across multiple scenes.

The killings began with Parker Smith and Andrew Remillard, who were fatally shot while sitting inside a vehicle in a Phoenix parking lot. Five days later, Salim Richards, a security guard, was shot to death while on the way to his girlfriend’s apartment. Cooksey, then 35, was arrested on Dec. 17, 2017, after officers responding to a shots-fired call at his mother’s apartment encountered him and he claimed he had cut his hand and that he was the only one home.

Further shootings occurred at apartment complexes in Glendale, killing Latorrie Beckford and Kristopher Cameron. A day after those killings, Villanueva’s naked body was found in an alley in Phoenix. Investigators said she had been sexually assaulted and that Cooksey’s DNA was present. They also said Richards’ gun, found at the scene of one of the earlier killings, was later linked to the others, and police noted Cooksey was wearing Richards’ necklace when he was arrested.

The case unfolds against a longer arc. Four months before the Phoenix murders, Cooksey had been released from prison after a manslaughter conviction tied to a 2001 strip-club robbery in which an accomplice was fatally shot. In court filings and interviews, he described himself as a musician and repeatedly denied the charges, including in a January 2020 handwritten letter to a judge in which he said his charges were false and that a not-guilty verdict would prove his innocence.

During the 2025 trial, Cooksey maintained his innocence and disputed the evidence linking him to the killings. Prosecutors argued the spree demonstrated a pattern of calculated violence across multiple locations and victims, including his own family members, and relied on a combination of DNA, ballistic evidence and items recovered from scenes and places the suspect had access to. The jury also convicted him on kidnapping, sexual assault and armed robbery related to the case. Prosecutors have sought the death penalty, to be determined in a subsequent penalty phase if the court allows.

Cooksey’s public statements and police records describe him as an individual who moved between crime scenes with rapid, brutal efficiency. Investigators said materials recovered at the scenes, such as Richards’ gun and the necklace, helped tie the killings together and established a timeline of the shootings that stretched across several weeks in late 2017. The chronology—beginning with the Parker Smith and Andrew Remillard shootings and culminating in Villanueva’s death—kept the case from gaining widespread public attention until authorities connected the incidents.

The convictions mark a culmination of years of police work and courtroom proceedings that spanned multiple jurisdictions and required careful analysis of ballistic, DNA and trace evidence. Authorities said the gun linked to Richards was a thread that ran through several scenes, and investigators noted Cooksey’s possession of Richards’ necklace at the time of his arrest as a concerning inconsistency with the defense’s claims of innocence.

The sentencing phase will determine whether Cooksey receives a death sentence or a life term without the possibility of parole. In capital cases, juries typically deliberate separately on aggravating factors and the appropriate penalty, following the verdict on charges. The legal process now moves to that phase, where prosecutors will present their case for why the killings deserve the ultimate punishment, and defense attorneys will challenge the state’s assertions and present their own mitigating factors.

The 2017 shootings previously contributed to a climate of fear in the Phoenix area, where two other serial shooting cases had sparked concerns about public safety and prompted residents to limit activities after dark. The contrast between those earlier cases and Cooksey’s spree is noted by investigators and prosecutors, who say this series of killings did not receive widespread publicity until law enforcement connected the incidents and brought charges.

As the penalty phase proceeds, the families of the victims, the community, and legal observers will watch closely how the court weighs the aggravating factors present in eight murder counts alongside the related charges. The outcome will determine not only Cooksey’s fate but also the broader message about accountability for violent crimes carried out across a metropolitan area over a short, terrifying period.