Arizona man sentenced to death in Phoenix-area serial killings
Six of eight murders carry death penalties; two others — those of his mother and stepfather — pending a separate ruling, with prosecutors potentially pursuing life sentences in a retrial.
A Phoenix-area man was sentenced Thursday to death in a string of fatal shootings that spanned three weeks in 2017. Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, was found guilty in late September of murder in eight killings, and jurors agreed on the death penalty for six of those slayings while they were undecided on the punishment in the deaths of his mother, Rene Cooksey, and stepfather, Edward Nunn. Prosecutors said they could seek the death penalty in a sentencing retrial or have a judge impose life sentences. Authorities never offered a motive for the attacks. Cooksey maintained his innocence during the monthslong trial.
The killings occurred over a three-week span in 2017 and began with two men found shot to death inside a parked car in Phoenix. The first victims, Andrew Remillard, 27, and Parker Smith, 21, were discovered with gunshot wounds in the car. Police said the case then widened to a west Phoenix attack on Salim Richards, 31, who was shot and killed while walking; his 9 mm Glock handgun and a necklace were missing. Investigators linked that gun to at least three other killings.
Latorrie Beckford, 29, was found shot twice in the head in the common area of a Glendale apartment complex. About 90 minutes later, Kristopher Cameron, 21, was shot and killed upon arriving at a Glendale apartment complex to complete a drug transaction with Cooksey. Roughly two miles away, surveillance footage captured a man approaching Maria Villanueva, 43, as she parked her car at another complex; the suspect drove away in Villanueva’s car with her in the front passenger seat. Villanueva was found partially nude and shot to death in a Phoenix alley the next morning.
Police responding to gunfire at a central Phoenix apartment found Cooksey at the scene and, after a brief altercation, took him into custody. Investigators said they found Richards’ gun, which was later linked to Beckford, Cameron and Villanueva. The keys to Villanueva’s vehicle were found there, and police said Cooksey was wearing Richards’ necklace when he was arrested. The toll also includes the deaths of Cooksey’s mother, Rene Cooksey, 56, and her husband, Edward Nunn, 54, who were found shot to death behind the front door.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the spree, and Cooksey has maintained his innocence since authorities began presenting evidence at trial. The decision to seek or refrain from the death penalty in the two remaining homicides — those of his mother and stepfather — was left to a sentencing retrial option, should the state pursue it. The case has drawn national attention for its rapid, violent sequence, and for the way investigators tied the killings together through physical evidence and timelines established during the investigation. In the years since 2017, Arizona has grappled with the broader debate over capital punishment and how best to apply it in complex criminal cases.