Judge mulls bid to deny bail for suspect of 9 metro Phoenix killings
Jan 25, 2018, 11:31 AM | Updated: 7:28 pm
(Arizona Department of Corrections Photo)
(Arizona Department of Corrections Photo)
PHOENIX — A judge is considering whether to deny bail to a man accused in a string of deadly shootings in metro Phoenix.
Judge Michael Kemp said Thursday that he’ll have to read grand jury transcripts before deciding whether to deny bail to Cleophus Cooksey Jr.
His bail was set at $1 million after he was arrested in December and charged in the shooting deaths of his mother and stepfather. Cooksey pleaded not guilty to the charges.
It was upped to $5 million after police said he killed seven others, most of them in the West Valley from Nov. 27 to Dec. 17.
No charges have been filed in those deaths.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said state law denied bail to people charged with crimes for which they can seek the death penalty. They haven’t said whether they’ll seek the death penalty.
A police detective testified Thursday that Cooksey fatally shot his mother in the apartment they shared and then had an argument with his stepfather before killing him.
Cooksey’s neighbors said they heard the gunshots on Dec. 17 that are believed to have killed his mother, Rene Cooksey, according to Detective Michelle Cervantes. Then they heard a tense exchange of words between Cooksey and his stepfather, Edward Nunn, followed by more gunshots, Cervantes said at a bail hearing.
While the reason for the argument is unknown, the detective said a neighbor reported hearing someone in the Cooksey apartment saying something about “the devil, evil (and) Satan” before the second volley of gunfire. It was unclear from the testimony who made the comment and how it fits into the argument.
The detective was the only witness to testify at a court hearing where prosecutors were asking for Cooksey to be denied bail.
“Phoenix police officers arrested Cooksey on scene and he’s been in jail since, but our detectives didn’t stop there,” Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams said after the arrest.
“They kept digging because that’s what good police officers do.”
He could be one of the most prolific killers in Arizona history, along with Aaron Juan Saucedo, a former Phoenix bus driver accused of being the Serial Street Shooter. Nine people were gunned down from 2015 to 2016.
The man dubbed the Baseline Killer, Mark Goudeau, was convicted of nine murders in 2006.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
