Arizona jury sentences man to death in string of killings in metro Phoenix during 2017

An Arizona jury on Thursday sentenced Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, to death in a string of killings that unfolded in the Phoenix metro area during a three-week span in 2017, marking the end of a nearly seven-month trial over attacks that targeted random victims and the defendant’s mother and stepfather.

Cooksey was found guilty in late September of murder in eight killings and was also convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted sexual assault stemming from the attacks in Phoenix and nearby Glendale. Jurors sentenced Cooksey to death in six of the eight murder counts. The panel was undecided on punishment for the killings of his mother, Rene Cooksey, and his stepfather, Edward Nunn.

The victims included two men found dead in a parked car, a security guard shot while walking to his girlfriend’s apartment, and a woman who was kidnapped, her body found naked from the waist down in an alley in Phoenix. Authorities said Cooksey’s DNA was found on the victim’s body, and investigators reported that evidence recovered at his mother’s apartment after her death connected him to multiple slayings. The evidence included a gun used in several killings, vehicle keys belonging to another victim and a necklace Cooksey was wearing when he was arrested. Investigators said there was no stated motive offered for the crimes. Cooksey, an aspiring musician, knew some of the victims but was not acquainted with others, police said. He has maintained his innocence.

The first victims, Parker Smith, 21, and Andrew Remillard, 27, were found Nov. 27, 2017, after being fatally shot while sitting in a vehicle in a Phoenix-area parking lot. Five days later, security guard Salim Richards, 31, was shot to death while walking to his girlfriend’s apartment. Over the next two weeks, Latorrie Beckford, 29, and Kristopher Cameron, 21, were killed in separate shootings at Glendale apartment complexes, and Maria Villanueva, 43, was found dead in an alley in Phoenix. Investigators said Villanueva’s body showed signs of sexual assault and that DNA helped tie Cooksey to the case.

Cooksey’s arrest followed two other serial shooting cases in the Phoenix area. In 2015, 11 shootings occurred on Phoenix-area freeways between late August and early September; charges against the only person charged in that case were later dismissed. The next case, which overlapped with the 2017 killings, involved bus driver Aaron Saucedo, who was arrested in April 2017 and charged with first-degree murder in nine killings. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Saucedo, with a trial scheduled for December; he has declared his innocence.

The Cooksey case is among several high-profile investigations in the Phoenix area during that period, illustrating the impact of a year marked by violence and ongoing legal proceedings as prosecutors pursued capital punishment in multiple cases. The verdict and sentence are subject to any appeals or post-trial motions under Arizona law.