PHOENIX (PulseWire) — An Arizona jury on Thursday sentenced a man to death in a string of killings in metro Phoenix during a three-week span in 2017, marking the end of a seven-month trial over attacks that targeted random victims, including the defendant’s own mother and stepfather.
Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, was found guilty in late September of murder in eight killings. He was also convicted of kidnapping, armed robbery, and attempted sexual assault charges stemming from the attacks in Phoenix and nearby Glendale.
Jurors sentenced Cooksey to death in six of the eight murders for which he was convicted. However, they were undecided on the punishment for his convictions involving the killings of his mother and stepfather.
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell is considering whether to seek a sentencing retrial on the two murder convictions involving Cooksey’s parents or to drop the effort to pursue the death penalty and allow a judge to impose life sentences instead.
The victims included two men shot dead in a parked vehicle, a security guard gunned down while approaching his girlfriend’s apartment, and a woman abducted before being sexually assaulted and discarded in an alley.
Authorities linked Cooksey to the killings based on evidence found in his mother’s apartment, which included a gun used in several murders, keys to another victim's vehicle, and a necklace belonging to a victim. The motive for Cooksey's violent spree remains unclear, and he has maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
Cooksey was arrested on December 17, 2017, when officers responded to a shots-fired call at his mother's apartment, finding a significant amount of blood upon their arrival. Cooksey initially claimed he had cut his hand and was home alone. However, officers discovered his mother and stepfather's bodies inside the residence.
Cooksey’s case adds to a concerning trend of violence in metro Phoenix, which has already seen multiple serial shooting incidents in recent years, raising widespread public concern.
