Cleophus Cooksey Jr. sentenced to death for 2017 metro Phoenix killing spree

Cleophus Cooksey Jr. sentenced to death for killing eight people in metro Phoenix in a three-week span in 2017.

Dec 18, 2025, 11:16 AM Updated: Jul 13, 2026, 8:44 am

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PHOENIX — The man convicted of murdering eight people, including his own mother and stepfather, in metro Phoenix in 2017 learned his fate Thursday.

Cleophus Cooksey Jr., 43, was sentenced to death for six of the killings by a jury in Maricopa County Superior Court. The jury was hung on the punishment for the other two murders, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO).

“Anyone who questions why we need the death penalty needs to look no further than this case,” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a press release. “It takes a special kind of evil to prey upon the vulnerable and needlessly take the lives of eight innocent people. Death is the only just punishment for him, and we will do everything in our power to see it carried through.”

The sentencing comes almost three months after Cooksey was found guilty of eight counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, one count of attempted sexual assault and three counts of armed robbery on Sept. 25. His trial began in April.

MCAO said that Cooksey received an additional sentence of more than nine years in prison for the non-capital charges.

Timeline of Cleophus Cooksey Jr. 2017 killing spree

Cooksey’s victims were killed during a three-week span in late 2017 in Phoenix and Glendale, just four months after he had been released from prison. He had been serving time for his role in a 2001 strip club robbery where an accomplice was shot and killed.

The first victims, 21-year-old Parker Smith and 27-year-old Andrew Remillard, were found dead on Nov. 27, 2017, after being shot while sitting in a car in a parking lot.

Less than a week later, 31-year-old Salim Richards was shot and killed while walking to his girlfriend’s apartment.

Over the course of the next two weeks, 29-year-old Latorrie Beckford and 21-year-old Kristopher Cameron were killed in shootings at separate apartment complexes in Glendale, and the body of 43-year-old Maria Villanueva was found in a Phoenix alley naked from the waist down.

Authorities said Cooksey’s DNA was found on Villanueva’s body.

The killing spree came to an end on Dec. 17, 2017, when officers found Cooksey’s mother and stepfather — 56-year-old Rene Cooksey and 54-year-old Edward Nunn — shot to death in Rene Cooksey’s apartment.

Officers responded to the apartment due to a shots-fired call. Cooksey answered the door. Police then noticed a large amount of blood.

Initially, Cooksey told the officers that he had cut his hand and was the only one home. He was taken into custody after an altercation with the officers.

Prosecutors said Thursday that Cooksey was connected to the killings through DNA, firearms and shell casings.

Additionally, he was wearing a gold necklace that had been stolen from Richards when he was arrested and Villanueva’s car keys were found in his apartment, according to MCAO.

Officials have never offered a motive for the killings but have said Cooksey knew some of the victims while others were randomly targeted.

Other metro Phoenix serial shootings

The Cooksey case was the Valley’s third serial shooting spree in a three-year span.

In 2015, a total of 11 shootings took place on metro Phoenix freeways. Eight cars were hit with bullets and three others were struck with other projectiles, such as BBs or pellets. No one was seriously injured, and charges were dropped against the lone suspect in 2020.

Meanwhile, nine people were killed and two others were injured in the Serial Street Shooter case, which happened over a yearlong period in 2015 and 2016. Bus driver Aaron Juan Saucedo was arrested in the case in 2017.