Phoenix-area shooting spree: Arizona man convicted of eight murders - All you need to know

An Arizona man was convicted Thursday on eight murder charges for a series of fatal shootings that targeted random victims as well as his own mother and stepfather over a three-week period in late 2017.

Cleophus Cooksey Jr. , 43, was also found guilty of kidnapping, sexual assault, and armed robbery. Authorities did not provide a motive, and Cooksey maintained his innocence throughout the months-long trial . The sentencing phase of the trial begins Monday, with prosecutors seeking the death penalty .

The killings began on November 27, 2017, when Andrew Remillard, 27, and Parker Smith, 21, were found shot in the head inside a parked car in Phoenix. Five days later, Salim Richards, 31, a security guard, was killed while walking to his girlfriend’s apartment. His 9 mm Glock handgun and a necklace were stolen.

On December 13, Latorrie Beckford, 29, was found shot twice in the head in the common area of a Glendale apartment complex. Two days later, Kristopher Cameron, 21, was shot while arriving at another Glendale complex to conduct a drug transaction with Cooksey.

Later that day, Maria Villanueva, 43, was abducted from a parking lot by an unknown man captured on surveillance cameras. She was found partially nude and shot to death the following morning in a Phoenix alley. Investigators said Cooksey’s DNA was recovered from her body, and her car keys were found in his possession at the time of his arrest.

The spree ended on December 17, when police responding to gunfire at Cooksey’s mother’s apartment found Rene Cooksey, 56, and her husband, Edward Nunn, 54, dead from gunshot wounds. Cooksey initially told officers he had cut his hand and was the only one home, but threatened an officer when they tried to detain him.

Authorities also recovered Salim Richards’ gun, later linked to the killings of Beckford, Cameron, and Villanueva. Police said Cooksey was wearing Richards’ stolen necklace at the time of his arrest. Prosecutors declined to charge Cooksey in a suspected ninth killing of his ex-girlfriend’s brother, Jesus Real.

Cooksey’s victims included people he knew and strangers. Adriana Rodriguez, the daughter of Villanueva, said her family finally received closure with the verdict. “He took my mom, the only support system that I had,” she said, breaking into tears.

A family friend of Rene Cooksey and Edward Nunn, Eric Hampton, called Cooksey a “monster” and expressed hope that he would receive the death penalty. “I thought maybe he had a little heart. But he doesn't have any heart at all, you know, to actually do these things to people and actually the worst part, kill your own mom,” Hampton said outside the courthouse.

The killings occurred four months after Cooksey’s release from prison on a manslaughter conviction linked to a 2001 strip club robbery in which an accomplice was killed. Cooksey, an aspiring musician, consistently claimed he was innocent. In a 2020 handwritten letter to a judge, he wrote that he was “not a rapist or murderer” and described himself as a “music artist.”

The trial was delayed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Cooksey appeared in court looking down as the verdicts were read.

Cooksey’s arrest followed two previous serial shooting sprees in metro Phoenix. In 2015, a series of 11 shootings occurred on Phoenix freeways over several weeks, but no serious injuries were reported and charges against the accused were later dismissed.

The next case, which lasted nearly a year and ended in July 2016, involved bus driver Aaron Juan Saucedo, who was charged with killing nine people. Saucedo’s trial is scheduled for December, and he has pleaded not guilty.

Maricopa County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Cooksey during the upcoming sentencing phase, citing the brutal nature of the killings and the inclusion of his own family members among the victims. Authorities have said the case represents one of the most disturbing serial murder sprees in recent Arizona history.