PHOENIX (AP) — 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 and the defendant’s own mother and stepfather.
Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, was found guilty in late September of murder in eight killings. He also was 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 killings for which he was convicted of murder. The jury was undecided on the punishment for his convictions in 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 mother and stepfather or drop the effort to seek the death penalty and let a judge impose life sentences on those two counts.
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 in an alley after police say she was sexually assaulted.
Authorities linked Cooksey to the killings through evidence found at his mother’s apartment in the aftermath of her killing, which included a gun used in several of the killings, vehicle keys belonging to another victim, and a victim’s necklace that Cooksey was wearing at the time of his arrest.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages for defense attorney Robert Reinhardt.
Cooksey, an aspiring musician, knew some of the victims, but he wasn’t acquainted with others, police said. He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The first victims were discovered on November 27, 2017, while the investigation led to a series of gruesome discoveries over the subsequent weeks.
“Anyone who questions why we need the death penalty needs to look no further than this case,” Mitchell said in a statement, asserting that Cooksey’s actions warranted the ultimate punishment.
Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, was found guilty in late September of murder in eight killings. He also was 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 killings for which he was convicted of murder. The jury was undecided on the punishment for his convictions in 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 mother and stepfather or drop the effort to seek the death penalty and let a judge impose life sentences on those two counts.
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 in an alley after police say she was sexually assaulted.
Authorities linked Cooksey to the killings through evidence found at his mother’s apartment in the aftermath of her killing, which included a gun used in several of the killings, vehicle keys belonging to another victim, and a victim’s necklace that Cooksey was wearing at the time of his arrest.
The Associated Press left phone and email messages for defense attorney Robert Reinhardt.
Cooksey, an aspiring musician, knew some of the victims, but he wasn’t acquainted with others, police said. He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial. The first victims were discovered on November 27, 2017, while the investigation led to a series of gruesome discoveries over the subsequent weeks.
“Anyone who questions why we need the death penalty needs to look no further than this case,” Mitchell said in a statement, asserting that Cooksey’s actions warranted the ultimate punishment.
