Phoenix serial killer Cleophus Cooksey sentenced to death for string of 6 murders in 2017

PHOENIX (TCN) -- A serial killer has been sentenced to death for six of eight murders he was convicted of committing in 2017.

On Dec. 18, the Maricopa County Attorney General Rachel Mitchell announced the sentencing of Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43. 

The killing spree began four months after Cooksey was released from prison on a manslaughter conviction. He had been involved in a robbery at a strip club that ended in fatal gunfire, CBS News reports.

On Nov. 27, 2017, Cooksey killed Parker Smith and Andrew Remillard. Over the next three weeks, Cooksey shot and killed Salim Richards, Latorrie Beckford, Kristopher Cameron, and Maria Villanueva. The spree ended when he shot and killed his mother and stepfather, Rene Cooksey and Edward Nunn, on Dec. 17, 2017, according to the attorney general’s office. 

CBS News reports Cooksey was suspected in the killing of a ninth victim, Jesus Real, his ex-girlfriend’s brother, but prosecutors declined to charge him in connection with the death.

Cooksey was caught when he answered his mother and stepfather’s door. Police were responding to a call that reported gunfire, CBS News reports. In addition to the bodies of his mother and stepfather, police also found items in the home later determined by the investigation to have belonged to the victims killed between Nov. 27 and Dec. 17, 2017. Police said that when an officer tried to detain Cooksey, he threatened to slit his throat.

Cooksey shot and killed a total of eight people, but the jury was undecided on the punishment for the murders of Rene Cooksey and Nunn, The Associated Press reports. The attorney general is considering whether to seek a sentencing retrial on those convictions or stop seeking the death penalty on them altogether and have a judge impose life sentences.

CBS News reports that at the time of the killings, the public was not made aware of the investigation to find a serial killer. According to the outlet, Cooksey was acquainted with some of the victims. Police never shared a motive. 

The trial, which CBS News reports was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, began in April, and in September, the jury found Cooksey guilty of eight counts of first-degree murder, three counts of armed robbery, two counts of kidnapping, and one count of attempt to commit sexual assault, according to the attorney general’s office. 

CBS reports that Cooksey maintained his innocence when the verdict was read.

In addition to his death sentence, Cooksey was given more than nine years in prison for the non-capital charges, according to the attorney general. 

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